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secrets! 

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f How I Made from $1,000 f 

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4> to $5,000 a Year in <§> 



the Baseball Business 






By Promoting and J 
Managing My 
Own Club 



By FREDERICK G. 

OF NEW YORK 



Copyright 1910 




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I BASEBALL I 

IS ECRETS J 

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f> How I Made from $1,000 j» 
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V the Baseball Business V 

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^ By Promoting and ^ 
$ Managing My $ 
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^ By FREDERICK G. PAIGE J^ 

<§> OF NEW YORK ! <§> 

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Copyright J9J0 <§> 






Copyright 1910 

By 

FREDERICK G. PAIGE 



All Rights Reserved 



©CI, A 2752'.. 7 



FORWARD. 

Whatever view we take of life, whatever 
the circumstances with which fate surrounded 
us, whatever our creed or nationality, each 
of us feels within himself that he was born 
for better things; that more of the comforts 
of life should be his .than he is now enjoy- 
ing. This feeling of unsatisfaction with 
ones lot in life is a righteous one for it is 
ambition, that wonderful incentive for ac- 
tion which is responsible for the remark- 
able progress the world has made and is 
making in every field of research and en- 
deavor. Each of us desires success and 
advancement in his undertakings, and 
while our views of what constitutes success 
may vary, we all court the attainment of 
our goal with the same zeal, sacrifices and 
fortitude. Many of us feel that if we Jcould 
but attain a position of independence, a po- 
sition where our efforts would meet with 
an adequate and compensating reward; a 
position, the income of which would se- 
cure to us and those depending on us the 
ordinary comforts of life, that the millennium 
of happiness would certainly be attained. 

Let us study and discuss for a moment 
the conditions which comfort the ordinary 
person in the more common walks of life — 
for of such is the world most nearly filled. 
We find him following an occupation for 
which he is unsuited in every way, and yet 
having assumed family cares, or burdens of 
a similar nature, he cannot leave it and 
seek something more to his liking. We 
find him occupying a position which he has 
logically out-grown, but in which there is 
no advancement except with influence, and 
he sees many an incompetent promoted and 
pushed forward to more salary and more 
agreeable duties because of favoritism and 
pull. We find him working hard at some 
honorable occupation, but one which utterly 
fails to provide the means for the proper 
3 



maintenance of those dependent upon him 
or prevents him from carrying out some 
cherished plan for his improvement and ad- 
vancement. We find him laboring faith- 
fully to perform the duties prescribed for 
him, but he chafes under overbearing and 
unsympathetic restraint; he is at the beck 
and call of a human monster, soulless and 
devoid of tact; he is a mere clog in the 
wheel; he is a nonenity stripped of individ- 
uality and aU that an intelligent and nor- 
mal person cherishes and holds dear. What 
wonder then, that he turns to more prom- 
ising avenues of labor and endeavor, where 
a reward commensurates with his efforts 
and true worth may be easily attained, and 
prompt advancement along life's plane, 
the logical sequence. 

From the standpoint of honesty and 
morality success may be said to crown ones 
life and career when he has attained that 
point where all the comforts and many of 
the luxuries of life are procurable; where 
his position is an assured one of independ- 
ence; where his resources and abilities have 
full unrestricted play in bringing forth 
those latent qualities which are within every 
one of us, waiting to be developed and en- 
larged. In other words, we all want to 
add to our income provided we can do so 
in a manner that will be honorable, thus 
entering the ranks of the perfectly inde- 
pendent worker or business man, and en- 
joy an income much in excess of that paid 
in our regular vocation. In the following 
chapters of this little book I will endeavor 
to explain in a clear and simple way the 
methods of how I made from $1,000 to 
$5,000 a season in the baseball business in 
an honorable and legitimate way, so that 
any young man with ordinary intelligence 
can rise above an ill-paid position and es- 
tablish a profitable business of his own in 
the conduction of which he can be per- 
fectly independent. Baseball is becoming 
4 



more and more popular each year. Both 
of the big leagues are playing to larger 
crowds each season than ever before. The 
smaller cities are also turning out larger 
crowds, and never before in the history of 
baseball has there been a better opportu- 
nity to break into the baseball profession 
than at the present time. 

Others are making money, and some are 
becoming independently rich each year 
from their baseball enterprises. For an ex- 
ample, I point to such men as Chas. 
Comiskey, of the Chicago American League 
Club, who I understand has made big 
money out of baseball, and started in as a 
player with practically nothing. Chas. W. 
Murphy, of the Chicago National League 
Club, is another man who has made a for- 
tune out of baseball. About fifteen years 
ago Mr. Murphy was a drug clerk in Cin- 
cinnati, working for a salary of $14.00 a 
week. He became interested in baseball 
and rapidly came to the front, eventually 
buying the Chicago National League Club. 
At the present time, I understand Mr. 
Mumhv is rated to be worth half a mil- 
lion dollars, made out of baseball. Both 
of these men are thorough baseball men, 
and have done all within their power to ele- 
vate the game to its present high standing. 
I can name many others that have made big 
fortunes out of baseball, and many that 
have made small fortunes also. You have 
the same opportunity to become famous in 
the oaseball world. Let me say right here 
if you decide to go into the baseball busi- 
ness, go into it in an honorable way. You 
will find you must be shrewd, if you want 
to succeed. Believe in yourself; believe in 
humanity; believe in the success of your 
undertakings ; fear nothing or no one ; love 
your work; work, hope, trust; keep in 
touch with to-aay; teach yourself to be 
practicable and up-to-date, and sensible. 
You cannot fail 

5 



CHAPTER I. 



HOW TO SELECT A GOOD BASE- 
BALL TOWN. 

One of the most important features for 
a baseball promoter is to select for himself 
a good baseball town. I have always found 
during my own experience that it was a 
good policy to make inquiries immediately 
after the close of the baseball season early 
in the fall for the selection of your town. 
As the old saying is "The early bird catches 
the worm." And then again you are catch- 
ing the average baseball man while he is 
asleep. You will find it will be to your ad- 
vantage in the baseball business to always 
be "Johnny on the spot." You never can 
tell who might try to pop in ahead of you. 
As a rule the average baseball man, and es- 
pecially the unexperienced fellow, does not 
prepare himself for the following season un- 
til after the holidays have passed and some- 
times not until the plaving season is nearly 
at hand. It is a good idea to follow the 
newspapers, all over the country, closely, 
during the plaving season, and learn the 
cities that are turning out good crowds 
playing independent baseball. Then try 
and secure the lease on the grounds in a 
town where they have been drawing good 
crowds playing independent or semi-profes- 
sional baseball. It will pay you to investi- 
gate early. Perhaps the parties that leased 
the baseball park hold the lease for the one 
year only, and you may be able to secure 
the lease for the following year or term of 
years by paying a little more than the party 
that holds the lease at the present time. 
This, of course, depends on the time of the 
expiration of lease. If you can succeed 
in doing this then you will have a good, 
paying baseball town for the next season 
for merely a small payment down on the 
6 



lease of the baseball park to bind the bar- 
gain. At the present writing there are 
several good baseball cities laying idle, 
without league baseball, near enough to- 
gether that good leagues can be organized. 
There are also several good baseball 
towns where strong independent baseball 
teams can be organized. A good way to se- 
lect a good live baseball town is to look up 
the past baseball records of the city you 
intend to select. You can most always find 
this out by communicating with the editor 
of one of the daily newspapers, asking him 
to give you the name and address of the 
last baseball manager of his city. If you 
are unable to find out the name of the 
last baseball manager of that city through 
your correspondence with the newspapers, 
take up communication with the Street 
Railway Company. Always write to the 
general manager of the company, and al- 
most invariably he can post you about 
the baseball facilities of the city, espe- 
cially if the general manager or superin- 
tendent are baseball cranks and more espe- 
cially so if they have had baseball before 
in their city, and carried the crowds too 
and from the baseball park. If you are 
still unable to find out anything definite 
from these two parties mentioned above, 
go to the manager of the Opera House 
in the city and find out from him what the 
theatrical record of the citv has been in 
the past. Find out whether it is a good 
show town or not, or whether the people 
in that city are inclined to take to sports. 
If a town has not supported a baseball 
club in the past as it should, do not feel 
discouraged at that, perhaps it might be 
the fault with the past baseball manage- 
ment. If the people in that city are in- 
clined to take to sports, such as football, 
horse races and is considered a good the- 
atrical citv. it is a ten-to-one shot you 
can make it a good baseball town by stir- 
7 



ring up the enthusiasm of the people 
through the newspapers, and also by fol- 
lowine the instructions in this little book. 
I do not consider it good business judg- 
ment to travel all over the country in 
search of a baseball town. You 'can make 
all necessary arrangements at your own 
home by correspondence and thereby save 
a great deal of time and expense. When 
you are on the road $100.00 is soon eaten 
up paying railroad fares and hotel bills, 
and other necessary expenses, and besides 
you may not accomplish anything in the 
end. I have always found, during my own 
exnerience that the best anu most econom- 
ical way is to select your town by corre- 
spondence. This can be done most al- 
ways through correspondence with the 
newspaper men, for the newspaper men 
are most always glad to give you the full 
particulars concerning the baseball out- 
look in their city. Then again the news- 
paper men most always want their city 
represented by a good baseball club for 
many reasons. One good reason, because 
it furnishes the paper and baseball public 
with plenty of good baseball reading. An- 
other good reason because you give all 
your advertising matter to the newspaper 
and during the course of a season the pa- 
per realizes quite a revenue financially from 
the baseball club. You must always give 
your printing to the newspapers, for they 
are the greatest resources you have. Re- 
member they always boost your business, 
so help those who help you. When you 
communicate with the newspaper men ask- 
ing information, it is considered good judg- 
ment to always enclose a two-cent stamp 
for a reply. After your correspondence 
with one of the above mentioned parties, 
and you are fully satisfied that you have 
selected the city you want and everything 
looks favorable to you, the next step is to 
secure baseball grounds or park, 
8 



CHAPTER II. 



HOW TO SECURE A LEASE ON A 
BASEBALL PARK. 

You will find that sometimes it will be 
very annoying and you may feel almost 
discouraged when you are trying to secure 
a lease on a baseball park in the city that 
you have your heart and soul set on- select- 
ing. There may be many obstacles in your 
way, but you must never feel discouraged. 
You must have plenty of pluck and perse- 
verance. Let me say right here that you 
must learn to overcome obstacles in the 
baseball business. 

I will point out in as brief as possible, 
two of the most important features you 
must learn to overcome pertaining to or- 
ganizing a baseball club. First, "Learn to 
keep a secret above all things." You may 
have in mind a centain city that you think 
might turn out to be a good baseball 
town. If you have do not go around and 
•talk about it to the other fellow, and espe- 
cially do not mention it to any one else 
that is in the baseball business as a pro- 
moter. If you have a secret in the base- 
ball business keep it to yourself, and if 
there is anything to be gained you want 
to be the one to reap the harvest. In 
almost every city of any size without 
league baseball you will find amateur 
clubs, or city league clubs, and if you want 
to organize a strong independent or league 
club to represent that city you will find 
that these clubs sometimes cause you con- 
siderable annoyance and trouble. A few 
years ago I organized one of the best inde- 
pendent baseball clubs in the country. 
The season previous the amateurs of this 
city had everything their own way and 
were playing a fair article of ball, "for 
their kind," and consequently were draw- 
9 



ing good crowds. I was told that 3,000 
people witnessed one of their games that 
season. I afterward made it an appoint to 
see one of their games, and I found that 
they were drawing good crowds and I was 
told that the receipts for this game 
amounted to nearly $500.00. This I con- 
sidered good for a city of a little less than 
15,000 population. They had a fine little 
baseball park in an elegant location, and I 
said to myself, I will try and secure the 
lease on that park for the following sea- 
son, and place a professional club in that 
city. I went back to my home in New 
York and shortly afterward took up cor- 
respondence with the street car people of 
that city, and also the owner of the base- 
ball park, and to tell you the truth I was 
unable to secure a lease on that park until 
nearly the first of March the following 
spring, and it was necessary for me to 
make a special trip to that city in order to 
secure the lease in the end, and I did so 
by out-bidding the amateur club. The 
lease cost something less than $300.00 a 
season — a good, fair price for a city of* 
its size — but it proved to be a profitable 
investment for me in the end. I organized 
a strong independent club consisting prac- 
tically of college players and leaguers. 

I gave all the amateur players who 
played on the amateur club the previous 
season a good fair trial for a position on 
my club and treated them fairly, but the 
people could quickly see they were not fast 
enough to keep pace with the experienced 
leaguers and college men, and the result 
was after a few games had been played, 
the amateur club was soon forgotten. 
You must always remember that the ama- 
teur clubs enjoy playing their games, and 
you must avoid throwing them down en- 
tirely if possible. You must help them 
along and keep the game alive and develop 
young players as much as possible, giving 
10 



them an opportunity to work up in the 
profession. Keep in harmony with them. 
You may want one of these players some 
day to help you out when you are short 
a man. Try and make some arrangement 
with them when they can have the use of 
your baseball park when your club is play- 
ing away from home. Rent it to them on 
the percentage basis and you will find you 
will receive a good sum by doing so in the 
course of a season. Get them all aboosting for 
you. Let them into your games free. Be 
friendly toward them, and you will find it 
will pay you greatly in the end. Now in re- 
gard to my opening game, I think I had 
nearly 2,000 people. The public enjoys see- 
ing good, clean baseball and if you can show 
them an article of baseball better than they 
have had in the past they will support it. 
These two suggestions mentioned above are 
two obstacles you must learn to overcome. 
First. "Learn to keep a secret," and second, 
"Learn to keep in harmony and on friendly 
terms with the amateur players and the pub- 
lic." Now in regard to securing a lease on 
the baseball parks. Write to the general man- 
ager of the street railway company asking him 
to please forward to you the name and ad- 
dress of the party, owner of the baseball park 
in his city. That is of course if there is a 
baseball park in his city. In nine cases out 
of ten the general manager will forward to 
you the name and address of the party, owner 
of the park for he realizes that his company 
receives good financial returns from a good 
baseball club located in his city, especially if 
the park is located on the company's lines, 
and he will most always assist you in secur- 
ing the lease on the park if necessary. After 
you have received the name and address of 
the owner of the park you must immediately 
take up correspondence with him, making him, 
what you think, a reasonable offer for the 
use of his park for a season or term of years. 
If he accepts your terms or does not accept 
11 



your terms it is most likely you will come 
to terms shortly, and after you both have 
come to satisfactory terms it is a good policy 
to make the payments of the lease in three 
installments, to read in three equal payments. 
One May ist, one July ist, and one Sept. 
i st, or you can make them in monthly in- 
stallments. The object in doing this is to 
make it easier for yourself and in case you 
should meet with a bad and rainy season and 
were not drawing sufficient crowds to warrant 
you carrying the club on much further and 
perhaps causing you to disband the club before 
the season closed you would not be at so 
much of a loss as if you paid it all down, say, 
April 1st, but there should be no occasion 
for this. If you have tried every way and 
cannot lease the baseball park from the owner 
who sometimes wants considerable more than 
it is worth, you can sometimes bring 
him to your terms by announcing through 
the local newspapers that you are go- 
ing to build a new baseball park. Once 
upon a time I had correspondence with. a. 
party who owned a baseball park asking him 
his lowest terms for the lease of his baseball 
park for one year. He wrote back asking 
$600.00. I came back at him stating that I 
did not want to buy the park, I merely want- 
ed to lease it for one season, and made him 
what I thought the reasonable offer of $100.00 
for the season. To make a long story short, 
I paid no further attention to him after that. 
I made up my mind that his terms were too 
high for me to consider, and looked else- 
where, and made arrangements to locate in 
another city. In the meantime I received a 
letter from this party evidently coming down 
from off his perch. I paid no attention to 
him, and when the playing season was about 
at hand, I received another letter stating that 
he would lease me his baseball park for the 
season at my terms of $100.00. I had another 
similar case once: A league was already or- 
ganized and I was offered a franchise in this 

12 



league, and when I tried to secure the lease 
on the baseball park the party wanted $600.00 
a season, the same amount as the party men- 
tioned above wanted. This, also looked too 
high for me, so on this account I did not 
accept the franchise. Shortly afterward when 
the league was about ready to have their meet- 
ing, and this party had no one to take the 
park, as I understood, and perhaps lose the 
franchise also, I received a letter stating if 
I would accept the franchise and place a club 
in the city, and come to the league meeting 
I could have the park free. 

I had made other arrangements by this 
time and accepted another franchise, so I had 
to decline the offer. As it turned out, I was 
sorry afterward that I did not accept that 
proposition. Another basebaH man was of- 
fered the park free, I understand, to take the 
franchise, go there and place a club in the 
league, which he accepted, and succeeded in 
having a winning club and, I was told, that 
he was to the good by July 4th $4,000. He 
played the season out, sold two or three play- 
ers, and there is no question but what he 
realized big money on an investment of prac- 
tically nothing. You might say nothing, only 
his carfare to get to the city. 

These two parks mentioned above were lo 
cated in cities, one of eleven thousand, and 
one eighteen thousand population, and I think 
that from one hundred to two hundred dollars 
is a fair price to pay for an ordinary base- 
ball park in cities of that size, especially where 
they are not permitted to play Sunday baseball. 
Always wait it out if possible. Do not get anxi- 
ous, you will find that the owner of the baseball 
park will almost invariably come to your 
terms, when you have made him a fair proposi- 
tion. You must use your own judgment on 
this matter of course. If other parties are 
after the park get in on the ground floor, 
and close the deal as quickly as possible. 
Don't let the other fellow get in ahead of 
you. 

13 



CHAPTER III. 



HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH A 
STREET RAILWAY COMPANY 
FOR ASSISTANCE. 



"MODEL LETTERS." 
For your own interest you should always 
extend many courtesies to the street railway 
people, providing that they assist you. Never 
allow yourself to do anything that will antago- 
nize them. Always jolly them along. Re- 
member that they are the people who some- 
times build your park or meet you half way 
in building it, at least when it is necessary 
for you to build, but sometimes you may 
come in contact with a street railway com- 
pany where the officials are inclined to want 
everything their own way and will not assist 
you to any extent. These are the fellows you 
must leave alone. Build your park yourself 
right in the centre of the city where they will 
receive no benefit from your games, that is 
if you can secure such a location to build on. 
The street railway company who are liberal 
and can see by a small investment the good 
returns ahead for their money invested, and 
they assist you, be sure and do all within your 
power to keep in that company's good graces. 
If things don't go to suit you some day during 
the playing season, for instance, the cars are 
not running regularly in bringing the crowds 
to the park, don't go up in the air and blame 
the superintendent. Remember there is some- 
thing wrong somewhere, and that the superin- 
tendent has a great many things to contend 
with. Don't let him get down on you. Don't 
be continually finding fault, for if you do "It's 
all off." Jolly him along. Keep on good 
terms with him always. Hand him a good 
cigar occasionally. Pat him on the back, and 
tell him what a good fellow he is. This of 
course applies to smaller cities. It is for the 
interest of the street railway company to 

14 



draw the people to and from the park and they 
will do all within their power to handle the 
crowds to advantage for you, and also ad- 
vertise your games for you on their cars. 

I will write in this chapter two good model 
letters that can be written to the general 
manager of the street railway company of any 
of the smaller cities that you have in mind, 
when you wish to organize a league or in- 
dependent baseball club. For an illustration 
we will take the city of Scranton, Pa., and 
the territory in Eastern Pennsylvania, con- 
sisting of the cities in that section available 
for league or independent baseball. Letter 
number one will apply to organizing a league 
or professional baseball club where there 
are no baseball grounds or park in that city. 
Letter number two will apply to organizing 
an independent club where there are baseball 
grounds in that city. Of course you can make 
these letters read visa-versa, according to 
whether there are baseball grounds or park, 
or whether there are no baseball grounds or 
park, or whether you are organizing a league 
or independent baseball club. 

LETTER NO. I. 

General Manager Street Railway Co., 
Scranton, Pa. 
Dear Sir : It is my intentions to organize 
a baseball league for the coming season in 
your section of the country, to include the 
following cities : Wilkesbarre, Allentown, Har- 
risburg, Lancaster, Reading, Lebanon, Wil- 
mington, and I would like to include the city 
of Scranton in the circuit. I understand, at 
the present time, there are no available base- 
ball grounds at Scranton. You, no doubt, 
are fully aware that a professional baseball 
club, located in your city, would give your 
company large returns financially, drawing 
the people to and from the baseball park. 
Without going into further details at this 
writing, I would like to ask if your com- 
pany would build or donate anything 
15 



toward building a baseball park on your lines, 
a reasonable distance out, providing a suit- 
able location can be secured? If you are in- 
terested in this proposition, kindly grant me 
an interview as early as possible, so as we 
can go over the situation definitely. Awaiting 
your immediate reply. 

Very truly yours, 

Signed 

LETTER NO. 2. 

General Manager Street Railway Co., 
Scranton, Pa. 
Dear Sir : I am considering the proposi- 
tion of placing in your city for the coming 
season one of the fastest independent base- 
ball clubs in the country, to consist practically 
of college men. I understand that the base- 
ball park at Scranton is located on your lines. 
If I am able to secure a lease of the baseball 
park and will place such a club in your city, 
would your company assist me financially? 
You, no doubt, are fully aware that your com- 
pany would carry several thousand people to 
and from the baseball park during the season, 
and this would be a great financial benefit to 
you. The other cities in your section of the 
country are supporting strong independent 
clubs and there is no question but what a 
similar club located in Scranton and properly 
conducted would also be w T ell supported. If 
your company can be interested in such a 
proposition and will assist me, kindly let me 
hear from you at once. 

Very truly yours, 

Signed 



16 



CHAPTER IV, 



A GOOD PROPOSITION TO SUBMIT 
TO A STREET RAILWAY COM- 
PANY, IN ORDER TO SECURE 
THEIR ASSISTANCE IN BUILD- 
ING A BASEBALL PARK. * 

After you have received encouraging com- 
munication from the street railway company, 
and everything looks favorable for you and 
they write you asking you to call for an in- 
terview, give them a good, straight, business- 
like talk. Prepare yourself for the occasion 
before-hand. It is a good policy to hand them 
your proposition in a neat typewritten form 
asking them to act upon it as quickly as pos- 
sible, and to also please notify you when they 
want you to call again. Here is the proposi- 
tion to present to the street railway company, 
made out in legal form. If you are or- 
ganizing an independent club make it read 
one city only. I leave blank the cities you 
want to fill in, also the considerations, etc. 
This will apply to a city of 15,000 to 100,- 
000 in population. 

Get the president's name and address of 
the company and address to him properly: 
Proposition. 

In making a proposition to your com- 
pany to build a baseball park on its lines 

to be used by the 

(name of club) 

of professional baseball players and mem- 
bers of the 

(name of league) 

of professional clubs, which comprises the 

following cities 

(name of cities) 
under protection of the National Associa- 
tion of Professional Baseball, which body 
oversees all professional baseball clubs and 
leagues throughout the United States and 
we are under their jurisdiction and direc- 
17 



tion, which alone assures this league a suc- 
cessful and lasting season as are all the 
other thirty-four leagues, at this writing, 
controlled by this association. These con- 
tracts are granted for a term of five years, 
to each club or franchise-holder. This sys- 
tem in which baseball is conducted today, 
assures any new league the National As- 
sociation may grant protection, success year 
after year just as the other leagues through- 
out the country are having. There has 
hardly been a failure in any league for the 
past four or five years, which speaks for 
itself. This new league being organized 

which includes 

(name of cities) 

is on a strong basis. All the cities are in 
good hands, and promoted by men who un- 
derstand how to keep the game alive. The 
grounds each year will be in active service 
from, say, April 1st to Oct. 1st, or later. 
I do not only use these grounds during the 
playing season of our own league, but in 
the spring I endeavor to arrange as many 
exhibition games as possible, especially 
with the larger clubs if I am able to secure 
them. After our regular baseball season 
is over, a number of the best football clubs 
are brought to the grounds, which is a con- 
stant revenue to the street car company 
in carrying the crowds to and from the 
park. Our professional season starts each 

year about 

and closes about 

We play 

(number of games) 

at home and as many games away from 

home. During the time the 

(name of club) 

is on the road I engage from 

time to time outside attractions which I 
have been accustomed of handling and know 
they are big drawing cards also, during the 
summer months. In that way the street 
car company carries big crowds without 

18 



investing any money to bring attractions 
along their lines. Taking the exhibition 
games played, also the football games be- 
fore and after the regular professional 

season of the 

(name of club of league) 

and including the schedule of league 

games played by the 

(name of club) 

would make at the least esti- 
mate about one hundred games played on 
the home grounds. These games, say at 
the lowest estimate, will average six hun- 
dred people to a game would be a total 
of sixty thousand people. If you carry 
say only one-half of this crowd it would 
amount to $3,000 and better. 

There is no chance for a street car com- 
pany to carry less than half of the people to 
and from the baseball park where the park 
is at the proper distance. This is not men- 
tioning the other attractions to be had at the 

park during the absence of the 

With all the 

(name of club) 

other attractions that can be brought to the 
park during the season should swell the at- 
tendance as much again. You can readily 
see that your company will realize a hand- 
some revenue on the money invested. 

I ask for a lease on the park for a term of 
3 years, with a privilege of 5 years, with all 
privileges and for which I will pay a rental 

of 

(the amount you agree to pay each year for lease) 

Dollars a year. It will be to my advantage to 
have as many attractions at the park as pos- 
sible, therefore the street car company will 
have the benefit of my experience and labor. 
If it should be the wish of the builders of these 
grounds, I will gladly oversee the building of 
them and see that they are properly arranged 
and up-to-date, and as baseball grounds should 
be for the convenience of the public. After 
the said baseball park is completed and placed 

19 



in proper order to begin the season, and any 
further improvements I desire to make, will 
do so at my own expense. I will also main- 
tain and keep the park in good condition, and 
protect it in every way possible. I would be 
pleased to have your company take action on 
this proposition as quickly as possible, and 
if there is anything you do not fully under- 
stand in this proposition I will be pleased to 
go over the situation with you thoroughly in 
my next interview. 

Signed 



20 



CHAPTER V. 



HOW TO BUILD A BASEBALL PARK. 
THE SIZE, COST, ETC., ACCORD- 
ING TO THE POPULATION OF 
THE CITY. 

In this chapter I will endeavor to give 
a conservative estimate of the cost of build- 
ing a suitable baseball park according to the 
population of the city. Estimate is based 
on the price of materials and labor at the 
present time, of course, and this may vary 
a little either way, according to the section 
of the country you are building in. You 
will find that it will not be to your ad- 
vantage to tie up any more money than 
is absolutely necessary in building a base- 
ball park in the smaller cities. Remember 
you are not in the business for your health, 
but at the same time you must be honest, 
and strive to please the public and also 
give them something for their comfort. If 
you do this then they will come to see 
your show again. 

ARTICLE I. 
In article one of this chapter I will give 
an estimate on a baseball park suitable 
for a city from 5,000 to 15,000 in popula- 
tion, and if you will travel the country 
over and take a careful survey of the base- 
bal parks in the cities of this size, you will 
readily see, at a glance that the baseball 
park I give an estimate on in this article 
is far better than the average baseball 
park you will find. All baseball parks in 
•the smaller cities should be 400 feet square, 
if possible, or in other words 400 feet on 
each of the four sides. Inside of this 
space there will be ample room for play- 
ing, and the erection of the grand stand, 
and bleachers, and also large enough to 
accommodate those who desire to drive 
in rigs and autos to witness the games, 
21 



This park will also be much larger than 
the average baseball park. If you desire to 
do so, you can make your park smaller and 
measure the distance from the home plate 
to the right field fence, and set the right 
held fence 235 feet from the home plate. 
This is the shortest distance, I think, re- 
quired by the baseball rules. 

In laying out the grounds I would ad- 
vise you to consult the "Spaulding Official 
Baseball Guide." You could set the left 
field fence 275 feet from the home plate. 
By doing this it would make about 1,400 
lineal or running feet of fence around your 
baseball field. By building a park this 
size you would then have a park equally 
as large, if not larger than several 
minor league parks I have seen. At the 
present time the catcher stands up behind 
the batter, while he is in action, and con- 
sequently you can shorten your distance 
from the home plate to the grand stand. 
Eighteen years ago, when the catcher stood 
back until the third strike or when base-run- 
ners were on the bases, the distance from the 
home plate to the grand stand at that time 
was supposed to be ninety feet. For an 
illustration: One season recently I was 
on the Indianapolis American Association 
baseball grounds, and I should judge that 
the home plate on those grounds was about 
fifty feet at the most from the grand stand, 
possibly only 40 feet, and I know of sev- 
eral other parks where the distance is any- 
where from forty to fifty feet. If you 
build a baseball park this size you would 
save the cost of building about 200 lineal 
feet of fence, but I would not advise you 
to do this unless you were compelled to 
build on a lot not allowing you to build 
any larger park, and that would be, of 
course, providing you were benefited by 
the location, for the nearer the centre of 
the city you can locate your park the more 
you will be benefited financially thereby. 
22 



I will again caution you that I mention this 
in case you are unable to secure a lot 
400 feet square, and I will figure the cost 
of the whole park on the basis of a park 
400 feet square. In smaller cities a fence 
seven feet high is sufficient, but in cities 
from 50,000 to 100,000 in population 
I would build my fence eight to ten 
feet high. I would not advise going to a 
high priced contractor to make arrang- 
ments for building your park, unless you are 
going to build such a park as I will describe 
in article three of this chapter, then you 
may need the assistance of a good con- 
tractor, but as for building parks in smaller 
cities I don't think it is absolutely neces- 
sary. Remember I am not knocking on 
the contractor, but advising you for your 
own financial good. The contractor is in 
business to make something, and he will 
undoubtedly give you a high estimate on 
the cost of building in order to make a 
good thing for himself. You can hire this 
work done about as cheap as he can and 
save his profits for yourself. The way to do 
is to go to some good honest union man 
that is a hustler, and will work by the day, 
and one that can get from one to six other 
union men to work with him. I say six 
in case you are compelled to build your 
park in a hurry, but two or three are suf- 
ficient. Tell him what you want, figure 
with him, and find out the wholesale price 
of lumber yourself. Pay him by the day 
and also what other help you have, and keep 
them all a hustling. Engineer your own 
work to suit yourself, and you will be sur- 
prised to learn how cheap you can build 
your park. Remember now, always hire 
"Union Men" for if you don't, the unions 
are liable to boycott you, and you will- 
find yourself in a peck of trouble, which 
you can easily avoid by starting right and 
hiring nothing but "Union Labor." 

One thousand dollars paid out for labor 
23 



will go a long way by this method. Buy 
your own lumber wherever you can buy 
it the cheapest. In the fence 1,600 lineal 
or running feet around the park and seven 
feet high there would be 10,200 square feet 
of lumber.. "Use rough hemlock," at $20.00 
per thousand would cost $204.00. Posts 
set 6 feet apart around the park would re- 
quire in all 266 posts at 15 cents each would 
amount to $39.90. Two rows of "2 x 4s" 
around the park to support fence would 
require 3,200 feet of "2 x 4s" at a cost of 
2 cents per foot would amount to $64.00. 
At a rough estimate which should cover 
both, allowing $10.00 for setting the posts 
and $10.00 for the nails, would make the 
total cost, adding these two amounts to- 
gether, $327.90. This does not include the 
labor of putting the fence up. I will give a 
rough estimate of the labor which should 
not vary but a little either way on the 
total cost of labor in the fence and grand 
stand together. I would advise building a 
grandstand 50 feet long and 9 rows of 
seats high, each seat should be 16 inches 
high and 20 inches wide on all occasions, or 
"16 x 20" boarded in front with plank for 
the seats. This makes a comfortable seat. 
Stringers underneath, sufficient to support 
and make strong. Let me say here, that 
it is rather a difficult matter to give an 
exact estimate of the cost of constructing 
a grand stand' for the reason is that in 
some sections of the country the law re- 
quires stands built stronger and more lum- 
ber used in the construction of stands than 
in some other sections of the country. Some 
places you can have stringers, or braces, 6 
feet apart on stands of this size, while in 
other places they require them to be 2 
to 3 feet apart, even on small stands. There- 
fore you can readily see it would be a 
difficult matter for me to give an exact 
estimate on the amount of lumber required 
in the construction of grand stands exactly, 
24 



but I will endeavor to give a conservative 
estimate, that will be sufficient and will 
not be far out of the way. Going back to 
the point where I left off at the seats and 
stringers. We will figure stringers 6 feet 
apart. 

The next will come the passage way in 
front of the stand, this should be 4 feet 
wide and boarded. Both sides or ends of 
the stand should be boarded about 2 feet 
above the seats or to the height of the rail- 
ing. The back of stand should be boarded 
to the height of top seat. From the top 
seat to the roof-plate should be a space 
of 4 feet. This height is sufficient in small 
stands. The roof should run up to a peak 
and single boarded, with cleats to cover 
the joints to keep rain out. The front of 
stand above the boarding should be prop- 
erly screened above boarding with chicken 
wire to protect spectators. The boarding 
in front of stand should be 3 or four feet 
high. The posts to hold roof should be 
of strong "4 x4s" 12 feet apart in front and 
six feet apart in back of stand and proper- 
ly braced. The ticket office should be built 
underneath the stand at one end, which is 
most convenient and the two gates should 
be near at hand, one about 4 feet wide for 
the spectators and one about 12 feet wide 
for the convenience of rigs and autos that 
drive to the games. It would require a 
great deal of time and space to give an 
estimate of the amount of lumber used in 
every section, as stated above that it re- 
quires more lumber in some sections than 
in others, but you can have this carefully 
figured for you in a short time, but you 
will find that it will require between 5,000 
and 6,000 feet of lumber to build this stand 
with the stringers 6 feet apart and proper- 
ly braced. The length of the stand would 
be 50 feet and the width would be 19 feet 
including the passageway in front 4 
feet. It is not necessary to elevate your 
25 



stand nowadays, but build direct from the 
ground resting on the cross stringers on the 
ground about 8 inches high which your 
walk or passageway will be. In the stand 
a better quality of lumber should be used, 
especially on the seats, and figuring on the 
average of $30.00 per thousand, the lum- 
ber in such a grand stand would cost 
$150.00 for 5,000 feet. 

Now we have the cost of lumber used in 
the grand stand. Also cost of lumber, nails 
and setting of posts in the fence. Four 
men should put the fence and grand stand 
together in 6 days easily, and if you pay 
them $3.00 per day each for their labor, 
the total cost for labor would be $72.00, 
but we will allow, say, $125.00 for labor, 
and also cost of nails used in the grand 
stand, which should be a sufficient amount 
to cover all. The total cost of stand would 
be $275.00 complete. Your park would then 
cost you all told $602.90, or $600.00 in round 
numbers, without the grading. Some places 
where it is necessary to build you may find 
old grounds once used for baseball pur- 
poses and no grading will be required. Al- 
ways select a piece of ground where you will 
have^ to do as little grading as possible. By 
placing the infield in good playing condi- 
tion I would judge that on the average 
field or ordinary field where grading must 
be done, I mean where the ground is prac- 
tically level, from $50.00 to $100.00 will be 
sufficient amount to cover the cost of the 
grading, and this amount should include 
or be sufficient to build a railing along the 
sides of the first and third base lines to 
keep the crowd back. This would com- 
plete your baseball park, and should be 
sufficiently good enough for cities of the 
size mentioned above, at a total cost of 
$700.00 or a little less. I say less for that 
depends upon whether you have to lay 
out anything for grading or not. It is not 
really necessary to build bleachers. I have 
'26 



used parks of this description without 
bleachers in small cities and found that the 
crowds attended the games just the same, 
when I was putting up a good grade of ball. 
In larger places use the bleachers. A few 
years ago this same kind of a park could 
be built for considerable less money. I re- 
member I had built for me at one time 
by a contractor, a grand stand 86 feet long 
and 8 rows of seats high, each seat was 
18 x 18 but not boarded in front or boarded 
at back of stand. I used chicken wire in- 
stead to keep the boys out. There were 
heavy plank used in the seats, and the roof 
was good and strong and the passageway 
was good, and the crowds came to the 
games just the same. This stand cost me 
exactly $125.00, and this was made by a 
contractor at that, but such a stand built 
by the average contractor today would 
cost anywhere from two hundred to two 
hundred and fifty dollars. 

ARTICLE II. 

The cost of building a park in cities from 
15,000 to 50,000 population. The dimen- 
sions of the ground space will be exactly 
the same as the one mentioned in article 
one, 400 feet square, and consequently, the 
cost of the fence will be the same without 
the cost of labor of putting it up or to- 
gether, $327.00 in round figures. The grand 
stand must be larger of course and bleach- 
ers must be added, and here is where you 
must use your own judgment in order to 
accommodate your crowds. If you are 
drawing big crowds of 2,000 to 3,000 people 
say on a Saturday or holiday vou must in- 
crease the seating capacity of your grand 
stand, and also bleachers after you see 
that the crowds are coming your way, and 
arrange same sufficiently large enough to 
acommodate them. But to start with I 
would build a stand 50 feet in centre with 
2 wings of 50 feet each running parallel 
27 



with the right and left field fences, and 
made exactly as the grand stand, described 
in article one, this chapter. If you found 
it to be not large enough to accommodate 
your people you could easily build on, and 
regulate to accommodate your crowds, as 
mentioned above. In the grand stand in 
article one, this chapter, I estimated that 
the cost for lumber, labor and nails was 
>d7S. 00. Therefore if you build a grand 
stand three times as large it will cost you 
three times as much, and should not be 
quite as much, or in other words the total 
cost of this grand stand should be $725.00. 
You would save 150 feet of fence in build- 
ing a stand of this kind for the rear of your 
stand would take the place of your fence, 
thereby taking something off the cost again. 
Let me say right here always set the back 
of your grand stand to the west or have the 
spectators backs toward the sun, when pos- 
sible for you to do so, but never have your 
spectators facing the sun from the grand 
stand. Your bleachers should be 50 feet 
long on each side of the diamond, or 100 
feet long on one side, say the "sunny side" 
of the field. The reason I say "sunny side" 
is because a great many fans will not sit 
in the sun for two hours to witness a ball 
game, and if your bleachers are on the 
"sunny side" it will have an attendancy to 
drive the spectators into the grand stand, 
thereby increasing your grand stand re- 
ceipts. These bleachers should be 8 rows 
high, made out of 12 foot plank, 12 inches 
wide, one row of plank to the seat, and 
stringers underneath six feet apart "where 
allowed," also of plank strongly braced. 
The seats should be 20 inches high, built 
according to this, 100 feet long, there 
would be a little less than 3,000 feet of lum- 
ber used in the bleachers at $25.00 per 
1,000 would cost you $75.00. One man 
should easily do this work in a week, and 
including the price of spikes, would make 

28 



the total cost for your bleachers say in 
round number $100.00. The cost of your 
fence $327.00. The cost of your grand 
stand, including everything, $725.00, and the 
cost of your bleachers $100.00. All added 
together would make the total cost of this 
park $1,152.00, or in round numbers $1,150.- 
00, without the grading. The grading will 
have to be added to this according to the 
amount done, therefore I caanot give an 
estimate on that. You will notice I did 
not include the cost of a board fence in 
front of the bleachers. You will also notice 
that I did mention that you will save the cost 
of building 150 feet of fence taken up by the 
rear of the grand stand, and by deducting this 
cost of 150 feet of fence you will have con- 
siderable left from that amount, to apply on 
the building the fence in front of the bleachers. 
I think the neatest fence to use in front of 
the bleachers would be to have "2 x 4s" drove 
into the ground six feet apart and "2 x 4s" 
nailed on the top, with a baseboard, and good 
chicken wire 3 feet high tacked on properly. 
This, you will find, would be much neater 
in appearance, and also much stronger, than 
an ordinary board fence, which is always 
breaking by the balls striking against it. 

ARTICLE III. 

A baseball park for a city from 50,000 to 
100,000 in population, should be a good one, 
and especially if you are fortunate enough to 
secure a good live baseball town that will ap- 
preciate a good ball club, and I might say 
allow you to play Sunday games. A city of 
this kind should turn out a crowd anywhere 
from 2,500 to 5,000 people on a good Sunday 
or holiday, with a special attraction, and you 
must have an available park to accommodate 
such a crowd. I would advise building a park 
400 feet square, same as in the two articles 
mentioned above, but would build a grand 
stand and bleachers with a seating capacity to 
accommodate five thousand people or nearly 
29 



that number. The grand stand I would build 
to seat, say, two thousand people and bleachers 
to seat, say, three thousand people. Fence to 
be 8 or 10 feet high and 1,450 lineal or run- 
ning feet, the other 150 feet of fence is added 
in the back of the grand stand, and two w r ings 
to make up the 1,600 feet around the park. 
This fence should be of a good, smooth, fair 
grade of lumber, so as your advertisements 
would show up nicely on it. The amount of 
money you should receive from advertising 
space on the fence, should more than pay the 
cost of building it. The fence 8 feet high by 
1,450 lineal or running feet would make 11,- 
600 feet of lumber in the fence. Use a good 
planed lumber in fence and have it tightly 
boarded. I will say lumber to cost $32.00 per 
thousand would cost $371.20 for boards in 
fence. I would use a good heavy post at a 
cost of say 30 cents each, set six feet apart. 
It would require 241 posts to go around the 
lot, at 30 cents each, would cost $72.30 for the 
posts. The "2 x 4s" would be the same as 
in articles one and two or 1,450 lineal or run- 
ning feet of two rows making 2,900 lineal or 
running feet in all at, say, 2 cents per foot, 
would cost $58.00 for the "2 x 4s. " Nails, say, 
$10.00 would bring the total cost of all these 
added together $511.50, without the labor, or 
in round numbers $500.00. The labor would 
cost in the neighborhood of $150.00 or, say, 
$150.00 added to the $500.00 would make the 
fence complete cost $650.00. The grand stand 
should be a 60 foot center section, with 2 
wings 50 foot each, and should have 20 rows 
of seats to accommodate 100 people to the 
row. The 20 rows would then seat 2,000 
people. In the center section I would have 
chair backs attached to the seats, and charge 
extra for this section. The entrance for the 
center section should be directly in the rear of 
the center section. The entrance for the two 
side wings should be on the outside of each 
wing, on each side and with steps leading up 
if necessary. The ticket office should be lo- 

30 



cated in the center of the main section, to one 
side of the entrance, and directly underneath. 
The main entrance should be directly under- 
neath the main stand. There will be sufficient 
room for the people to pass underneath the 
stand either to the right or left field bleachers, 
commonally called in baseball as they choose, 
or to the right or left wing of the grand stand. 
The passage way in front of this stand should 
be 5 feet wide. Heavy timbers should be used 
to make it good and strong in order to pass 
the inspection of the building inspectors. I 
mention in article one in this chapter it will 
require considerable more lumber to build a 
stand of this kind in some sections of the coun- 
try than it will in other sections, therefore it 
would be hard for me to give an exact esti- 
mate or full details of all the lumber re- 
quired in the stringers and braces, etc., to build 
such a stand, but I will endeavor to give a 
conservative estimate that will strike the aver- 
age and also cover the amount of lumber re- 
quired. It would be a good idea to have a 
competent contractor go over this with you, 
and draw you up a plan of this kind of a stand, 
so as to give you the correct idea. By read- 
ing this article over carefully and explaining- 
it carefully to the contractor, he will under- 
stand what you want and can figure out just 
exactly what you want and the cost of build- 
ing it, etc. Then you can go around and get 
bids on your grand stand and make arrange- 
ments with whoever you can get to build the 
cheapest. If you are not familiar in building a 
grand stand it may seem hard at first for you 
to catch onto my idea if you are not familiar 
with building a baseball park, but this will 
come to you readily by consulting a contractor 
on building. The roof should be a peaked 
roof, boarded with cheap lumber, and covered 
with a good grade of roofing paper. The 
back of stand should be boarded with a good 
grade of matched lumber. The seats should 
be 16x20 inches, and roof should be 5 feet 
high at back or from the last row of seats. 

31 



Heavy timbers "8 x 8" should be used to sup- 
port the roof, both in front and back. In fact 
to build a stand of this kind it would require 
from 38,000 to 40,000 feet of lumber, say, 
40,000 feet of lumber at an averaged price 
of $25.00 per thousand would cost exactly 
$1,000 for the lumber in such a grand stand. 
The labor, nails and roofing paper would cost 
from $800.00 to $1,000.00 more or in other 
words it would cost from $1,800.00 to $2,000.00 
to build such a grand stand complete, or about 
one dollar a sitting is generally allowed. The 
grand stand and fence complete would then 
cost from $2,550.00 to $2,750.00 The bleach- 
ers should be 150 feet long and 12 rows high 
on each side of the diamond, with a wire 
fence in front as I described in article two 
in this chapter. For each side it would require 
seven thousand five hundred feet of lumber, 
or thereabouts, used in the bleachers, and say 
at an average cost of $25.00 per thousand 
would cost $187.50. The labor and nails 
should cost say $75.00 making a total of 
$262.50 for each side of bleachers or the 
two side complete would cost $525.00. The 
cost of bleachers added to the cost of the 
fence and grand stand given above or $2,550.00 
to $2,750.00 would make the total cost of the 
park complete, without the grading $3,075.00 
to $3,275.00. 

I think by going over this carefully with 
a contractor that does not want too much for 
his work, one that will work reasonable, you 
can get this park built for $3,000.00 alright, 
and you would then have a daisy. You notice 
I say contractor in this case. The reason I 
mention this is because it is building on a 
large scale, and I sincerely think it would be 
advisable to co-operate with a contractor in 
this case, but for parks mentioned in articles 
one and two in this chapter, you can just as 
well engineer them yourself. 

This park in this article is probably a little 
too good and expensive for the average city 
of 50,000 population to start in with, but would 
32 



be alright for a city from say 80,000 to 100,- 
000 in population. In cities from 50,000 to 
80,000 population you can cut down or regu- 
late the size and seating capacity to from 
2,000 to 3,000 and build according to your own 
judgment sufficiently large enough to accom- 
modate your crowds. Don't build too large 
at first; go slow. See your way clear. Re- 
member if your seating capacity is not suf- 
ficient you can easily build on. I would sug- 
gest that a park costing from $1,500.00 to 
$2,000.00 would be sufficient to start with in 
a city anywhere from 50,000 to 80,000 popula- 
tion. 

Below I will give a rough draft surface plan 
so as to give you an idea of a suitable base- 
ball park for a city anywhere from 50,000 to 
100,000 in population. If you are located in 
a city of a smaller population, and compelled 
to build a baseball park you can cut the size 



if oc F^e^T 





KIGHTFOUL LINE 



~+*. 



\ 


CCW FE/YCe- 


^EXIT 




^^pET^ir^f-; 


nT^ecHEHs' uV5?RvIath 


= =f=£^~jrZ 





of your stands and bleachers down as describ- 
33 



ed in this chapter to accommodate your 
crowds. 

A good way to get familiar with build- 
ing in case you were going to build a 
park would be to go to some city about the 
size of the city you are located in, that has 
a nice, neat, up-to-date park. Size up the 
stands, bleachers and fence. Get the idea 
from that park and build from it and also use 
the ideas from this chapter. After you have 
seen a few other parks that are up-to-date 
it will give you an idea of just what you want, 
for seeing a park would give you a much bet- 
ter ideaof what you want than reading, if you 
are not" familiar with one. The above chap- 
ter is to give you a rough idea of just what 
you want. From the reading standpoint of 
view combined with observation you will have 
no difficulty in getting together a suitable park. 



34 



CHAPTER VI. 



IMPORTANT METHODS TO KNOW 
AND ALSO "WHAT TO DO," 
WHEN YOU GO TO A CITY A 
STRANGER — TIME TO START, 
ETC 

When you have definitely decided upon the 
city in which you intend to organize a base- 
ball club and, I will say, made all preliminary 
arrangements for the lease of baseball grounds, 
or if necessary made arrangements to build 
grounds, and you have accomplished all you 
could by correspondence, it will be very es- 
sential to know when it would be the proper 
time for you to go to the city you have selected 
for real action. I would suggest and found 
that during my own experience that any time 
from February 1st to March 1st is the most 
available time for you to start operations, and 
I will endeavor to point out in as brief as 
possible my reasons for thinking so. If it is 
your intentions to organize a league it will 
give you ample time to do so, and at the same 
time you will find enough to do to keep your 
time occupied by starting a little early. It will 
also give you ample opportunity to put on a 
couple of minstrel entertainments or any other 
good local talent play of some kind, whichever 
you choose, or even hold a series of dances 
for the financial benefit of the baseball club. 
The entertainments I will explain more fully 
in one of the following chapters under the 
head of entertainments. In starting early the 
people of the city will become fairly well 
acquainted with your ways and methods of 
doing business by the time the baseball season 
opens, or the regular championship season, 
which I think from May 15th to May 25th 
is about the best time for small leagues to open 
their season in the north, or even with an in- 
dependent club, but the players should report 
for duty at least two weeks prior to this date 
35 



for practice and exhibition games, whether you 
have an independent or league club. You will 
not be an entire stranger to the public by this 
time. You will come in contact with the people 
and no doubt make many friends, and boosters 
for yourself. As stated above whether you 
organize a league or an independent club, you 
will have sufficient time to run off your en- 
tertainments, sell your season tickets, get out 
your score card advertising, solicit your ad- 
vertising on fences, build your baseball park 
if it's necessary for you to build one, and have 
the business end of raising funds and collec- 
tions made for the support of the club all 
completed and out of the way by the time the 
baseball players begin to arrive for duty. When 
they arrive you will find you will have your 
hands full attending to advertising your 
games, keeping the players working, and look- 
ing out for the financial interests and general 
run of business affairs that may come up dur- 
ing the playing season. Have your playing 
manager look after the ball players while on 
the field, and I would make this his duty to 
do so. It will relieve you of this responsi- 
bility. Right here I want to point out the 
most important feature of your future base- 
ball success in any city you locate in. It 
will pay you to start right, and if you start 
right you surely can succeed. Don't think it 
is necessary for you to go into a town dressed 
up like a dude, for if you do the chances are 
they will put you down for a four-flusher 
and may keep shy of you. Dress fairly well 
and neat, in a business-like manner, but do 
not allow yourself to go shabby. 

In smaller towns always stop at the best ho- 
tel. In larger cities it does not matter so much, 
but always stop at a respectable hotel, and 
especially where the good sports congregate. 
The landlord will usually give you a reasonable 
monthly rate when you tell him who you are 
and what you are going to do. A baseball 
manager and baseball club stopping at a 
hotel usually brings a big business to the 
36 



hotel, and especially if the hotel has a bar in 
connection with it. The baseball fans congre 
gate at the hotel usually to talk over base- 
ball affairs with you and the players after the 
regular season has started. Always think 
well of yourself, and associate with the best 
people or no one. Do not be a saloon man- 
ager or loafer, for if you are you might just 
as well throw up the sponge, for it's all off 
with you in the estimation of the best people. 
They will soon find it out if you are and when 
you go around to sell your season tickets, or 
score card advertisements, or ask for support 
from the business men in any way, the chances 
are you will get the cold shoulder. A great 
many baseball managers in small leagues, I 
will not say promoters, for there are a very 
few at the present time, make this serious 
mistake as soon as they strike town. They 
pike for a. saloon the first crack out of the box, 
to get pointers or information. Here you are 
introduced to a certain class of so-called 
sports, and you feel like asking them to have 
a drink with you in order to make yourself 
a good fellow, for if you do not ask them, 
they will call you a dead one, and go around 
knocking you right off the reel, and if you do 
treat them they will follow you around and 
play you for an easy mark every time they get 
an opportunity. They will also be of annoy- 
ance to you many a time. Consequently you 
can readily see if you cater to the saloon eli- 
rr.ent it will cost you dearly in the end, and 
you will also lose the friendship of the other 
people, or as I term them "The monied 
people," who will assist you financially, when 
you come around. Now bear in mind, keep 
out of the saloons when you strike town. I 
do not mean to be a saloon knocker or any- 
thing of the sort, and any honest saloon man 
will tell you the same thing, but I am writing 
this from what experience I have seen of 
others, and also for the dollar and cents point 
of view, for you are in business for the money. 
After you are ready to sell your season 

37 



tickets and advertisements, I would advise you 
to go to the best saloons and sell what you can, 
for their money all counts for you, and their 
money also counts as much as anybodys, but 
never go to the saloons until you have seen 
all the other merchants and big fellows first. 
Call on the saloons last, these fellows will fall 
in line aright, and when they see that the best 
people in th city are helping financially they 
will fall in line also and attend the games, you 
can rest assured. When you visit the saloon 
on a business proposition, go in in a business- 
like manner, explain your proposition to the 
proprietor only, and when you are through 
doing business get out. You will find you 
will come in contact with a good many sensible 
fellows in the saloon business, that will help 
you, and not expect you to hang around their 
place. They know that it hurts your reputa- 
tion, and also hurts you in your business and 
the good fellow does not expect this of you 
if he takes any pride in his town at all. He 
wants you to carry yourself straight and fur- 
nish a winning club for the town, and let the 
other fellows do the drinking. Now it is not 
necessary for you to visit the saloons when you 
first strike town, and the best way to avoid 
them after you have arrived in town, and made 
arrangements with the hotel people you intend 
to stop with, and feel that you are comfort- 
ably located, I would suggest for you to make 
a call on all the newspaper men in the city, 
and be sure and not to slight any of them. 
Tell them your full intentions correctly, and a 
good live newspaper man should give you a 
write-up any where from one to two columns, 
At the same time find out from one of the 
newspaper men who is the father of base- 
ball in the town, or the dyed-in-the-wool base- 
ball crank that can give you all the baseball 
information you want. You will usually find 
some old fellow that is all right, and has had 
some baseball experience, that pretends to 
know all about baseball from A to Z, that 
will be glad to meet you. This fellow can 
38 



probably tell you the number of people the 
town has turned out to witness a ball game 
for the past 40 years, or anything else you 
want to know whether it has been league, 
amateur, or town lot ball. This fellow you 
want to make your confidential friend and 
daily visitor, as well as the newspapers. If 
he has the time he will take you around and 
introduce you to the good people and in that 
way you will soon get acquainted. When you 
are read}' to sell your season tickets have him 
make out a list of, say, 100 names for you 
to call upon. The first 25 or 40 names on the 
list should be the dyed-in-the-wool baseball 
fans, or cranks around town that are sure to 
buy season tickets, and that will not turn you 
down. Have him go around with you and as- 
sist yoju whenever he can spare an hour or so 
a day. By working in this way you will soon 
have from 75 to 100 season tickets sold in the 
small cities and you will find it a pleasure to 
visit the business men on such an occasion. 
After you have been located in the town a 
short while and made the acquaintance of 
some of the best business men, your work will 
be fascinating and a great pleasure to you, 
which I point out in the following chapters, 
and you will feel perfectly at home. 



39 



CHAPTER VII. 



HOW TO SECURE ASSISTANCE 
FROM THE NEWSPAPERS. 

As I have mentioned in the previous chapter 
after you have arrived in town, it is a good 
idea to get to the newspaper men as quickly 
as possible. Have a confidential talk with 
the editor or city editor of each paper and 
explain your situation to him fully, concern- 
ing your baseball intentions. If you are 
working on a league talk league ball to him. 
If you are working on an independent club 
talk independent ball to him, and so on. If 
the editor is a baseball fan or crank, the ex- 
pression used in baseball, the chances are he 
will greet you with open arms and he will 
give you many a valuable tip concerning 
baseball affairs around town. Here is where 
you will learn a great deal, and the news- 
paper men will be of great assistance to you in 
this respect. Bear in mind you must always 
jolly them along, they may publish an ar- 
ticle some day that might not sit in your crop 
just right, for instance, when the club has 
lost about six games in a row. But you must 
come up smiling just the same, for you will 
find that the baseball business is a case of 
jolly all the time. 

Never lo se your temper. Be prepared to 
take everything in a good natured way, but 
keep a thinking all the time, and work out 
your own propositions. There will be plenty 
of people to make suggestions to you at any 
time you may listen to them, but use your own 
judgment based upon your own experience. 
The newspapers are usually ready to publish 
any article of merit, pertaining to baseball 
from day to day, and I would advise calling 
on the newspapers once every day, and give 
them what up-to-date baseball news you have. 
Perhaps there might be two or more papers 
in the town, say, both morning and evening 
papers. It is a good idea to divide the news 
40 



equally among the morning and evening pa- 
pers, in order to keep harmony. Do not favor 
one any more than the other. Be friendly to 
all the fellows on the paper and they will 
boost your game for you for they want the 
news. It helps to sell their papers and also 
furnishes them with up-to-date baseball dope 
for the public. Most newspaper offices have 
a job printing department and I would ad- 
vise having all your job printing done at the 
newspaper offices, for the newspapers are the 
ones that help build up your business, and in 
return you must give them your printing and 
also advertising in return for their kindness. 
This makes a good feeling all around. If you 
do this, and carry out these instructions the 
newspaper men will always stand ready to 
assist you. 



41 



CHAPTER VIII. 



HOW TO KEEP THE NEWSPAPERS 
BOOSTING FROM DAY TO DAY 
AND THE NEWS YOU SHOULD 
GIVE THEM— THIS IS THE ONE 
IMPORTANT FEATURE TO SUC- 
CESS. 

The most important feature for your 
own welfare and success in organizing a 
baseball club, is to keep the newspapers 
boosting the baseball question for you ev- 
ery day. I have learned from my own ex- 
perience to always manage' to give them 
some news every day. Do not miss a sin- 
gle day, if possible keep a boosting con- 
tinuously; never let up; if you haven't any 
news to give them hatch up something 
from the imaginary pertaining to baseball 
facts. Get the sporting editor to help you. 
The public reads the papers and will cer- 
tainly read your baseball dope in the pa- 
pers. They will read this baseball news 
that is published each day, and after a few 
days will realize that they are going to 
have a baseball club in their city, and they 
will wonder who you are. They will look 
you up, and think that you are a hustler 
and all right, and that you mean business, 
and the fans will want to make your ac- 
quaintance. They will call on you at your 
hotel, to talk baseball with you, and you 
will find that you will be one of the most 
talked of men in the town. You will often 
overhear people say as you pass by, "There 
he goes, that's him," and you will really 
be surprised at the notoriety you will gain, 
providing you conduct yourself properly, 
but do not pav any attention to all this, at- 
tend strictly to business all the time and 
keep a hustling, and also keep the news- 
papers pushing out the news every day. 
42 



This is your best advertisement. "The 
proper advertising makes any business a 
success." As P. T. Barnum used to say, 
"If you have ten dollars to invest, invest 
nine of it in advertising,'' but in this case 
you will not have to invest any money in 
newspaper advertising. "You get it free." 

As I said in one of the previous 
chapters the newspapers are always glad 
to get the news, and the reporters 
will be after you every day to learn 
if you have something for them. Now the 
best way to get good results from the 
newspapers, I have found, during my own 
experience, is to go to the city editor or a 
middle aged man of experience in base- 
ball affairs, if the paper has such a man on 
its staff, anl make some kind of an ar- 
rangement with him to take charge of the 
baseball situation for you, or give you the 
"write ups" as the newspaper men term it, 
each day. You most always can do this. 
It will pay you to open your heart a little 
to this man, and a good way to reimburse 
him for the boosting he is doing for you 
is to invite him to take dinner with you 
occasionally at your hotel, and also hand 
him a box of cigars occasionally if he 
smokes. You can also appoint him as 
official scorer or press agent for your club 
at a small salary for his kindness, especially 
so if you locate in a city from 50,000 to 
100,000; put yourself out a little to make 
things pleasant for him, and you will soon 
see the results, especially after the games 
start and the crowds begin to attend. A 
good, live newspaper man of this kind 
should give you a write-up anywhere from 
one-half to a whole column every day un- 
til say, within a couple of weeks from the 
time the players report. Then you should 
get more newspaper space, and especially 
so after the players report. When the 
players report run the picture of each 
player in the papers, giving a history of 
43 



his work. Most every city newspaper has 
a young fellow "kid reporter" or "Mr. Wise 
Guv" as I call them, running around gath- 
ering up the new. These are especially 
found in the smaller cities. Do not, under 
any circumstances, tie yourself up with 
one of these fellows if you can possibly 
avoid it. If you can secure the services 
of the older or middle-aged man of expe- 
rience, as I have mentioned above, to write 
your baseball news, "do it," but if you can- 
not secure the services of the middle-aged 
man you must do the next best thing. 
These young fellows as a rule make me 
think of a young green trotting horse: 
sometimes they will go along all right for 
awhile, and then they will make a break, 
and when they do break, they break in 
bad shape, and thus may prove to be very 
disastrous for you, therefore I am very 
anxious to warn you about this particular 
matter, so remember this particularly. I 
could recall several occasions where these 
young fellows have broke in bad shape for 
me, but the older and more experienced 
and level-headed newspaper men do not 
make these breaks; they usually move more 
carefully, so this is why I take precaution 
in advising you to tell your troubles to the 
head of the family. For an illustration I 
will devote a little space in telling you of a 
little experience I had on one occa- 
sion with one of these "kid report- 
ers," which proved very disastrous to 
me financially. It was one of my first sea- 
sons in the baseball business and I did not 
know as much then as I do now about the 
ins and outs of the game, therefore I am 
now able to advise you to keep shy of these 
"kid reporters," whenever you can. This 
does not apply to all of these "kid report- 
ers." Once in a great while you will find 
one that is alive, and will write what you 
tell him, and manage to keep things hum- 
ming. I was under the impression that I 
44 



had selected a pretty fair baseball town for 
myself that season; I had sold some sea- 
son tickets and got out a nice score card 
and had what I thought signed a pretty 
good ball club on paper, for an independent 
club, comparing it with the other clubs in 
the vicinity. However the season started, 
and I played two series of three games 
in each series at home, and won two out of 
the three games of each series, on each oc- 
casion, and those were with what were sup- 
posed to be two of the strongest clubs in 
that section. I felt proud of my club for 
their good work, and things looked quite 
rosy for me, for we had a good attendance 
at all of the games. Then the club played 
away from home for two games, winning 
one and losing one game. We came back 
home and played three games, winning two 
out of the three games again. I had then 
booked the club away from home for a long 
trip of twelve games. I am sure, including 
two Sunday games which would have been 
a big money maker for me, for at those 
towns they were turning out large crowds, 
especially on Sundays. I was to start on 
this trip about two days after we had 
played the last game at home as near as I 
can remember, and I was making arrange- 
ments to curtail expenses as much as pos- 
sible on the trip, therefore I released two 
players, which I thought were not fast 
enough for the club, and took on a local 
man in place of one of them; I also traded 
a catcher for another player, a pitcher I 
think it was. I did not see the "kid re- 
porter" the day this was going on, but I 
was told that the two players that I had re- 
leased saw him that night and told him 
that the club had disbanded. I presume 
they were sore on account of being re- 
leased, and wanted to do what damage they 
could to the club and to myself, as a great 
manv ballplayers do, or try to do, when 
they are released. Therefore, you must al- 
45 



ways be prepared for this. Well, what do 
you think this "kid reporter" did? He 
never came around to see me and find out 
the facts of the case, or to see if there was 
any truth to it or not, but instead, swal- 
lowed what these ball players told him, and 
the result was he wrote a long article that 
was published next morning under a big 
headline in the morning paper. "Baseball 
club disbanded," which of course created a 
big sensation and also a big surprise to 
everybody. Other papers copied the arti- 
cle, and it was circulated all over the state, 
the following day. I immediately wired 
and also wrote the managers of all the 
clubs I had games booked with on this 
trip, explaining how a rattle-headed news- 
paper boy wrote such an article for publi- 
cation, but I was too late for an article 
once published in a newspaper generally 
goes for the true facts, and probably nine 
out of ten people that read the article take 
it for granted whether it is the truth or 
not. 

I think that I was to open on a Saturday 
and Sunday in a certain city, and as stated 
above called the manager of the club on the 
'phone, trusting that I could secure these hrst 
two dates, anyway, for a starter, and that he 
would not cancel my dates with his club on 
account of the article being published. 
He told me that he read the account of my 
club disbanding to his surprise, and to make 
himself sure of a game for that Saturday 
and Sunday he immediately booked another 
club from a large city nearby to fill my en- 
gagement, and all the other clubs had like- 
wise done the same. So you can easily 
see the position I was in, just on account 
of some num-skulled, five-dollars-a-week 
"kid reporter." He knew that he had done 
wrong and kept out of my sight, but I 
hunted him up, and what I told him. I'll 
bet he has not forgotten it to this day, but 
what redress did I get? I learned this 
46 



much right there and then, that I did not 
want any more "kid reporters" to attend 
to nv baseball "write-ups" if I could pos- 
sibly avoid it. 

I have always made it an appoint to get 
to the newspapers first, when anything of 
this kind happens, then you are safe. I 
figured up what I would have made on that 
trip above expenses, providing the weather 
was favorable of course, and I think, as 
near as I can remember, it would have 
amounted to something between five and 
six hundred dollars clear profit; so you can 
see how much damage a foolish mistake 
in the newspaper will do, so I wish to in- 
sist upon you again to be sure and secure 
a competent man for your "write-ups." 

The best way I have found to furnish 
newspapers with news, and also to keep 
them boosting every day, is to prepare 
your own articles, until your players re- 
port. You will have ample time evenings 
in your room at your hotel to do this. 
When your players report the papers 
should come out strong for baseball, but 
you must get them started, that's the main 
thing in your business. Take a writing 
pad and write on one side only, good and 
plain in your own way about 500 words or 
. so, each night, and hand it to the news- 
paper man, that you have made arrange- 
ments with to give you your "write-ups." 
If it is a morning paper, hand him the news 
some time in the evening; if it's an evening 
paper hand him the news some time in the 
morning. Go over the facts in your own 
way, and he will rewrite them for you, and 
he should stretch such an article into one- 
half or a whole column. Sometimes you 
find the newspaper men very busy, and I 
have found that during my own experience 
it is a much better way to write out your 
own articles, but it is not absolutely neces- 
sary to do this; you can tell him what you 

47 



have if you wish, so long as you get some 
news to the paper. 

A good way is to read the other news- 
papers in your vicinity that are publish- 
ing olenty of good baseball news, and you 
can get a good idea from those papers, and 
give vour papers similar ideas. If you are 
organizing a league, or have a league fran- 
chise, you can give full details about the 
league meetings, and when you are build- 
ing your basball park you can also give full 
particulars about its progress each day, and 
when you begin to sign players, make it 
an appoint to give something about one 
player each day. Give his full history from 
the time he began to play ball; also manage 
to secure his photo for publication. This 
adds tone to the article and the cranks like 
to look over the pictures. Never give the 
history of more than one player at a time, 
say one each day for thirty days, providing 
you have thirty players signed for trial. This 
would furnish the public with plenty of 
baseball news; also adding the other news 
that comes up from day to day. You should 
receive at least a column each day. Have 
a good photograph of yourself, and also of 
your baseball park in the paper, and when 
all the players report for duty have a large 
group picture of all of them taken together. 
Have it placed on the front page of the 
paper just before the opening game, and 
when the season is on and your club se- 
lected and uniformed, have the club picture 
taken again and put in the paper with your- 
self in the center. You can make some ar- 
rangements with one of the local photog- 
raphers to have the club picture printed on 
post cards and distributed at different sell- 
ing agencies through the city, or sell the 
right and let some one else sell the post 
cards as you see fit, and you should realize 
a nice little sum by so doing without any 
work or expense to speak of on your part. 

Read the "Sporting Life," and "Sporting 
48 



News," two good baseball papers published 
every Saturday and you will get the ideas 
and methods used by other managers and 
magnates throughout the country. When 
your games start it is a good idea to place 
a small standing advertisement in each of 
the daily papers. Select a good space as 
large as you think you can afford, right on 
the front page if you can secure space 
there. If you find that you are unable to 
keep a standing advertisement you must at 
least advertise each series of games to be 
played at home. A two-inch space across 
the top or bottom of the sporting page 
makes a very desirable "ad," and by adver- 
tising in this way always keeps the editor in 
good humor, and I would advise you to do 
this in cities where the rates are not too 
high, for the many kindnesses that the 
newspaper has extended to you. I selected 
for myself at one time a city of 15,000 popu- 
lation, and I was told by several parties 
that it was a good live town. I knew that 
there were several good independent ball 
clubs in the immediate vicinity, and thought 
the chances looked good to me for organ- 
izing a neat little league, so I made an in- 
vestigation. I went to this city and found 
that I could lease the grounds, but it would 
require considerable expense to place them 
in proper playing condition. Then I called 
upon the newspaper men and they told me 
that they thought baseball wouldn't pay 
there. They said we had a club here a 
few years ago, and it disbanded early in 
the season. Why, one of them said a fel- 
low was here last year and tried to start a 
club, but could not get it started. I knew 
that he did not know how to start and for 
that reason he did not make it a go. This 
was all true, I learned afterward. I quietly 
looked around, sized up the town; the peo- 
ple looked good and prosperous. I also 
learned that it was a good show town, that 
the people had money, and took kindly to 
49 



sports. I said to myself that there must 
be some reason for their last ball club dis- 
banding early in the season. It must have 
been mis-managed. I found that the base- 
ball park was in a very poor location, and 
the park was also too small, and the people 
had to walk about a quarter of a mile af- 
ter getting off the street car; everything 
looked good to me there, under proper 
conditions, so I decided to stick and try 
mv luck. I told this to the newspaper 
men, and asked them if they would publish 
all the baseball news I gave them, and boost 
the game. I would remain and take the 
chances and also organize the league and 
place a good club in the field to represent 
their city in the league. This, of course, 
they agreed to do, so I went at it, and I 
want to tell you I saw that they had plenty 
of news each day of some description, and 
what was the result from this newspaper 
boosting. I succeeded in organizing the 
league, and woke the town up to be a grand 
baseball town for its size. I switched the 
baseball grounds to the other side of the 
city, and located on the street car lines 
that took the people direct to the r^ark. 
I managed to give plenty of news to the 
newspapers each day, as mentioned above. 
When my players reported and I was 
ready to play my first game I had the. 
people worked up to great enthusiasm, and 
I think the first Sunday game the attend- 
ance was a little over two thousand paid 
admissions; not so bad for a town of 15,000 
population. The league is still in exist- 
ence at this writing, and this town still has 
a good baseball club in the league. Now, 
if you follow these instructions and keep 
the newspapers boosting from day to day, 
and have a good club, I am sure you will 
have no trouble in drawing the crowds 
and making a success of the baseball busi- 
ness. 

SO 



CHAPTER IX. 



HOW TO ORGANIZE A LEAGUE AND 
HOW TO CALL THE PRELIMI- 
NARY MEETING. 



ARTICLE I. 

In organizing a baseball league always 
choose a territory where there are six or 
eight cities or towns of available size that 
were playing good independent ball the past 
season, if possible to select such a terri- 
tory. Look the territory over carefully, 
follow the newspapers in that section and 
learn the baseball situation thoroughly in 
that section; also make it a special point 
to find but the city that is turning out the 
largest crowds, then try and secure the 
lease on the baseball park in that city for 
yourself, for the next season as I have 
described in one of the previous chapters of 
this book. 

After you have leased the park in the 
city which you have selected for yourself, 
you are practically settled for the next sea- 
son and nine points of the ten are in your 
favor, and you are then safe to go ahead 
and organize the league. Do not agitate 
a thing toward its organization until you 
are safe and sound, and have your grounds 
leased first and positively sure that you are 
"in first" on the baseball proposition in the 
city. This you want to attend to early in 
the fall immediately after the close of the 
baseball season, the time I would suggest 
to begin preparations for the following sea- 
son. You can sometimes lease grounds by 
correspondence, or it may be necessary to 
visit the city you have in view, in order 
to do so. This, of course, is up to you to 
decide. After you have secured the lease of 
the park write to the president or man-, 
ager of the clubs in the six or eight cities 
you have in mind to complete the circuit, 
51 



simply asking them if they are in favor of a 
league or independent ball. You will prob- 
ably find that over half of them are in fa- 
vor of a league. Probably some of them 
may hang back. It may require some time 
to get the exact sentiment of all parties 
concerned, but if you begin your corre- 
spondence early in the fall I am sure you 
will have ample time to learn the exact po- 
sition they all take in the matter. Then 
directly after the holidays write to all the 
parties interested that you want in the 
league, inviting them to attend the pre- 
liminary meeting of the league. I would 
arrange the date of meeting to take place 
say from February 1st to February 15th. 
This is at your option and convenience to 
all concerned. I have known of promoters 
to travel over the circuit two or three 
times getting a line on the cities wanted in 
the circuit, but I do not advise doing this, 
and do not think it absolutely necessary. 
It can all be arranged satisfactorily bv cor- 
respondence, especially in small leagues, 
thereby saving time and expense. It is a 
good scheme to have three or four fellows 
you know personally and can trust to join 
you in the organization of a league and 
each take a town in the league circuit. 
You then work together and have every- 
thing your own way. 

If you are organizing a six club league, 
and have four with you including yourself, 
it is an easy matter to get two other clubs 
to come in. If you find you cannot organ- 
ize an eight-club league, organize a six-club 
league. You will notice that there are sev- 
eral six-club leagues in the country, and it 
is far better to have six good towns that 
will play the season out. than to have an 
8-club league with a couple of dead base- 
ball towns that might cripple you to a great 
extent, or handicap the whole league. 
Therefore I suggest a 6-club league. Some 
of the clubs might feel that it was their 
52 



duty to carry the weak club along, in or- 
der to save the league from destruction. 
I do not advise this, they may be the 
means of breaking up the whole league. 
Do not carry any deadwood, if you can 
avoid it. Select the cities as near together 
as possible and do not have the jumps any 
larger than possible, for railroad fares eat 
up a lot of money sometimes if the jumps 
are two large. Sometimes a cozy little 
four-club league can be organized, many 
such leagues are now in existence. 



ARTICLE II. 



How to Call the Preliminary Meeting. 

After you have written each of the presi- 
dents or managers of the various clubs in 
your proposed circuit, getting their opinion 
as to whether they are in favor of league or 
independent ball as I have mentioned in 
Article One of this chapter, you will find 
that probably the majority will want league 
ball, then the only way to do is to call a 
preliminary meeting, all get together and 
talk over the baseball situation concerning 
the proposed league; you may find a couple 
of contrary ones at the meeting that may 
want everything to go their way. You 
must persuade these fellows to get to think- 
ing as vou do, as quickly as possible, espe- 
cially "if tnev are hard nuts to crack." 

I have found during my own experience 
that the best way to bring them to their 
milk is to get up in the meeting and ask 
them to withdraw from the room. You be- 
ins: the one who invited them to attend 
have a perfect right to do so; simply say 
that you will go on and organize the league 
without them if necessary, and the major- 
itv of the clubs being with you, you are safe 
in making this move. It is usuallv a polite 
way to take a vote, and vote them out, then 
they will leave the room with no ill feeling 
53 



toward you. After you have them out they 
will not realize where they are at until it 
has all happened; they will then get their 
heads together out in the hall, thinking per- 
haps that their town will not have a club 
in the league, or that it may be without 
ball, and they do not want this to happen, 
and after discussing the situation among 
themselves, they will come knocking at 
the door, begging to come into the league, 
and will gladly do any old thing to comply 
with your wishes, if you will only take 
them into the league. I have had this same 
experience and worked this plan very suc- 
cessfully, and find it is the only way to 
handle these know-all sort of fellows at a 
baseball meeting. 

After all this confusion has been settled, 
and all the details have been discussed, and 
everything working harmoniously again, 
and also everybody in favor of the league, 
the next step at the meeting is to elect of- 
ficers, and I will point out the best way to 
do this in a small league, in the following 
chapter. Of course you understand at the 
present time most all baseball leagues are 
under the jurisdiction of the National As- 
sociation of Professional Baseball Clubs. 
There is only one out-law league at this 
writing of any consequence, and I cannot 
predict the history of its outcome, as an 
out-law organization. I would not deem it 
advisable to organize an out-law league. If 
you choose to organize an independent 
league that consists practically of college 
men, and play during the summer, that is 
all right. I organized the Maine State 
League for the season of 1907, an inde- 
pendent league which consisted practically 
of college players. We could not go un- 
der protection and have the college play- 
ers in our league. There is a rule in some 
of the colleges that bars the students from 
playing on the college team, if they play 
under organized ball, but the Maine col- 
54 



leges adopted a rule that the college play- 
ers could play in the Maine league during 
the summer and be eligible to the college 
team also. This was simply an independ- 
ent league catering to college men, and not 
interfering with any players under the Na- 
tional Association. The league played the 
season out in good standing. It is a good 
policy to organize a league consisting of 
college players. You usually get the bet- 
ter class of people interested then, and 
when they are interested, the league is 
usually a success. 

If you organize a league under protec- 
tion of the National Association, I want to 
point out to you the value of protection 
before I begin chapter ten, or how to select 
officers for the league. The following is an 
article that appeared in the "Sporting Life/' 
in the fall of 1906, which gives the remark- 
able record of the National Association of 
that year, which I consider a good one, and 
want you to read it over carefully: 
Value of Protection. 

The prosperity of the major leagues in 
the exciting and eventful 1906 baseball sea- 
son was duly reflected in the minor leagues, 
who collectively enjoyed an exceptionally 
prosperous season — as has indeed been the 
case annually since the organization of the 
all-embracing and beneficient National As- 
sociation five years ago. Of the twenty- 
odd minor leagues, members of the Na- 
tional Association, which started the sea- 
son, all but one finished in good shape for 
resumption of business in 1906. The Inter- 
State Association, which disbanded during 
the race, was the only pronounced failure 
of 1906. The five Class "A" leagues fin- 
ished with the clubs that started the sea- 
son; and all played out their schedules as 
started except the Pacific Coast League 
which had to make a wholesale shift owing 
to the San Francisco calamity. That this 
league played out the string in face of as- 
55 



sured loss accentuated the strength of the 
league and attested its faith in the future 
under National Agreement protection. 

The prosperity of the Class "A" leagues 
was reflected in the National Association 
leagues of lower rank. The New York, 
New England, Connecticut, South Atlantic, 
Indiana-Illinois-Iowa, Central, Northwest- 
ern, Cotton States, Iowa, Hudson River, 
South Michigan and Virginia leagues (the 
two last-named in their first season) all 
went through the season without a club 
change! In the entire field there were but 
three changes — the Ohio-Pennsylvania 
League transferring the Zanesville team to 
Marion; the Western Association shifting 
St. Joseph's club to Hutchinson, and the 
Inter-State League exchanging Hornells- 
ville for Patton. 

This is a wonderful record in view of the 
vast territory covered by these leagues, 
and the many difficulties which all minor 
leagues must inevitably encounter and sur- 
mount. The permanence of the minor 
leagues is proof of their prosperity; but this 
pleasing state of affairs is largely at- 
tributable to the National Association, 
which not only affords protection to capital 
invested in minor league ball, thus making 
for permanence, but also compels discipline 
in the ranks, thus assuring to the public the 
absolute integrity of the sport. 

In view of its past achievements, present 
prosperity, and future blessings, the Na- 
tional Association has become absolutely 
indispensable to the successful conduct and 
financial protection of minor league base- 
ball, and the minor magnate who would 
dare lift a hand to impair its efficiency, at- 
tack its integrity, or imperil its existence 
is an enemy of and a traitor to the national 
game itself. May the National Associa- 
tion live long and prosper always! 

You will notice that in the above article 
it says: "Of the twenty-odd minor league 
56 



members of the National Association which 
started the season, all but one finished in 
good shape for the resumption of business 
in 1906. The Inter-State Association which 
disbanded during the race was the only pro- 
nounced failure of 1906." 

I want to say right here that if the party 
that wrote this article knew the particulars 
concerning the Inter-State Association af- 
fairs, and its organization as I do, he could 
have easily given the reason for its failure, 
and I also want to add to this, and I make 
no hesitation in writing it either, that in the 
first place, in my opinion, the league did 
not have' a competent baseball man at its 
head. 

I was interested in that league at its 
start, and I regret very much indeed to 
mention it. At the very first meeting I at- 
tended I looked upon the whole affair as a 
joke, and predicted that it would be a 4th 
of July affair, and my prediction was not 
far out of the way. I think they lasted a 
few days after July 4th. With a competent 
baseball man of experience in handling 
leagues for a president, and a properly 
drawn-up schedule of, say, one hundred 
games, or not over one hundred and twenty 
games, and the proper selection of umpires, 
and a league conducted in the manner that 
the New York State, the Connecticut State, 
or the New England leagues have been con- 
ducted, I feel confident in saying that had 
this been done the Inter-State Association 
would have been in existence longer than 
it was. The South-Michigan league that 
was organized at the same time, and fight- 
ing the Inter-State for territorial rights, is 
ready to start its fourth season now with 
at least five of same cities the Inter-State 
Association had in its circuit, so you can 
see that it was due to poor judgment in con- 
ducting the affairs of the Inter-State Asso- 
ciation; while on the other hand the South- 
Michigan league officials take five of the 
57 



same cities and make a fine success of it. 
It is due to competent men being connected 
with the league. It is all in the way you 
go at it. Why just think of it, the Inter- 
State Association had a schedule almost 
as long as the National and American 
leagues had, and instead of games being 
arranged in series of two or three games 
in each series most of the games were ar- 
ranged in series of four games to a series. 
How ridiculous for a league consisting of 
small cities, instead of the clubs opening 
the season with the club which was the 
nearest at hand, and also its most rival 
club, or money maker. The schedule was so 
arranged for the club at the extreme north- 
ern end to play the club at the extreme 
southern end of the circuit, an enormous 
jump, which was not necessary at all, and 
meetings, why they held enough meet- 
ings to organize three leagues of that size, 
and I could name many other ridiculous 
things that occurred in this league that 
would have driven any league to the wall. 
Any level-headed man can readily see from 
these facts, why the Inter-State Associa- 
tion was the only pronounced failure during 
the season of 1906." Personally I think the 
league was organized for the special benefit 
of two men merely for the individual graft 
they could get out of it regardless of what 
the outcome would be. 



58 



CHAPTER X. 



HOW TO SELECT OFFICERS FOR 
THE LEAGUE. 

It is not a difficult matter to select offi- 
cers for the league and the best way to do 
after you are all together is to talk over 
the question of who you want for the presi- 
dent of the league, if there is a competent 
business man of good business judgment in 
attendance, one that will be interested and 
also a franchise holder, and one that can 
especially curtail expenses, and not want 
to be calling meetings all the time. Get the 
sanction of the other members in attend- 
ance. Get up yourself, make a little brief 
speech, pointing out the good qualities of 
your league, etc., etc., and also make a mo- 
tion for this man to act as president of the 
league. Some one/ no doubt, will second 
the motion, and when the motion has been 
seconded and carried, ask this man to take 
the chair and proceed with the meeting in 
the proper way. If you have no one in at- 
tendance at the meeting that wants to act 
as president of the league, then you your- 
self act as temporary president until you 
can secure some good man to take the 
job. I would advise getting some good, 
live newspaper man, one that has had past 
baseball experience to take the position at 
a small salary, providing such a man can be 
secured. It is better for the welfare of the 
league to have some one to act as president 
that is interested financially in one of the 
clubs of the league, especially the first year. 
Then he will work his best to make the 
league a success and will not want a salary 
for his work. This will apply to small 
leagues under class D, or small independent 
leagues. In the larger leagues I would ad- 
vise securing the services of a competent 
baseball man, one that has had consider- 
able experience as president of other 
59 



leagues in the past, and one that has made 
a success of his work providing such a man 
can be found to accept the position at a 
reasonable salary. 

After your president has been elected 
then you want to choose a secretary-treas- 
urer. There will be some one at the meet- 
ing capable of acting in this capacity. Pick 
out a man that is a good penman and has 
some knowledge of secretary work, if such 
a man is present. One man is all that is 
necessary to have for the position of secre- 
tary-treasurer. After he has been elected 
you are ready for business. Sometimes in 
a small league one man for the offices of 
president, secretary-treasurer is all that is 
required. When your league officers are 
elected, and your league is organized, then 
you must not forget to apply for protection 
to the National Association of baseball 
clubs, which I mention in Chapter Nine. 
It will be the duty of the president of the 
league to do this by writing to the secre- 
tary of the National Association, whose 
address is. Mr. John H. Farrell, Auburn, 
N. Y. He holds the office at this writing, 
and has held that office ever since the Na- 
tional Association was formed. He will 
give full particulars concerning the classi- 
fication of your league according to the pop- 
ulation of the cities in your circuit; also 
the cost, etc., and all other requirements, 
and if the league has been accepted as a 
member of the association, each member of 
the league will receive league contracts tor 
signing players, and a book of by-laws of 
the Association. After the officers have 
been elected it is necessary to hold only 
one more meeting, and that is the schedule 
meeting. Hold this meeting, say about 
three or four weeks after the preliminary 
meeting. After the schedule meeting is 
held then you are ready to play ball as far 
as meetings are concerned. I have known 
leagues to be organized, and the schedule 
60 



drawn up all at one meeting, and every de- 
tail of business done, and placed in first- 
class shape, ready to play ball when the 
season opened, and this was all done in 
one of the best little Class D leagues ever 
organized. 



61 



CHAPTER XI. 



THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVAN- 
TAGES OF FUTURE LEAGUE 
MEETINGS. 

It is not necessary, to be calling meet- 
ings every week or two in order to bring 
matters pertaining to the league to a focus. 
Two meetings are sufficient prior to the 
opening of the league season, namely the 
preliminary meeting and the schedule meet- 
ing. You will observe that all leagues that 
have been the most successfull in the past, 
call the least number of meetings. Men 
that are interested in other business enter- 
prises cannot afford to take the time re- 
quired to attend baseball meetings too fre- 
quently. Besides there would be consid- 
erable expense attached, especially so if 
there was some distance to travel, therefore 
I claim two meetings are sufficient to or- 
ganize the average small league. In a league 
it is advisable to work in harmony with 
one another as much as possible, and find 
out how you all stand at the first two 
meetings, and you must also work in har- 
mony with the president of the league, 
providing he is trying to run things on the 
level. If you have a president that is a 
good business man and up-to-date he will 
see the folly of calling too many meetings. 
So you can readily see the advantage of 
as few meetings as possible. It certainly 
would be,. in my opinion, very much to the 
disadvantage in many ways, and also would 
be folly to hold more than the two meet- 
ings for an ordinary small league, prior to 
the opening of the season. And any aver- 
age business man could accomplish all the 
business that is necessary in the two meet- 
ings, therefore saving time and further ex- 
pense. 



62 



CHAPTER XII. 



ARTICLE I. 
HOW TO DRAW UP A SCHEDULE, 
GUARANTEES, ETC. — HOW TO 
APPOINT UMPIRES. 



ARTICLE II. 
HOW TO ADOPT A CONSTITUTION 
AND BY-LAWS— A GOOD CONSTI- 
TUTION FOR A SMALL LEAGUE 
TO ADOPT. 

ARTICLE I. 
At the second meeting of the league which 
should be called the schedule meeting, it is 
absolutely necessary that all clubs be repre- 
sented. I would suggest calling this meeting 
at the most central point of the circuit, so 
as to make it convenient for all parties, and 
also arrange to hold the meeting at the best 
hotel in the city. By so doing it will add 
prestige. Occupy a large room in the hotel 
and have a large table and chairs placed in 
the room. All gather around the table. The 
president should get out a large sheet of 
paper, say, a couple of feet square, for the 
making, out of the official schedule. If you 
have a six dub league draw seven equal 
squares across the top of the sheet, beginning 
in the upper left hand corner, and also seven 
squares down the sheet, beginning in the up- 
per left hand corner. Begin in the second 
square at the upper left hand corner and fol- 
low across the paper to trie right, marking each 
square at the top for six spaces with the 
name of the club underneath "at home" for 
all the clubs represented in the league, six in 
all. Then begin in the second square under- 
neath the upper left hand corner and run 
down the sheet marking each club away from 
home or "abroad." 

You will notice that after you begin to fill 
63 



iii the schedule that it will leave the squares 
from the upper left hand corner to the lower 
right hand corner blank. It would be a good 
idea for you to secure an old schedule from 
some leading newspaper if you do not clearly 
understand what I mean or have never seen 
a schedule, then you can get the correct idea 
from that. In a small league a schedule of 
100 games is sufficient, or 120 games at the 
most. A 100 game schedule would give you 
50 games at home and 50 games abroad.* A 
120 game schedule would give you 60 games 
at home and 60 games abroad. Always ar- 
range the schedule so that each club will play 
an equal number of games with each other if 
possible. In preparing the schedule each mem- 
ber of the league should know the distances 
between all the cities in the circuit, and try 
and arrange, as fas as possible, that each club 
will have to travel the shortest distance pos- 
sible during the playing season. Each member 
of the league present wants with him sufficient 
paper to make a copy of the schedule as you 
are making it out so as to have your copy 
correspond correctly with the official schedule 
held by the president of the league. Each 
member will probably know what club they 
desire to open the season with, so put these 
opening dates down first, for a starter, in the 
squares to corespond whether you open the 
season "at home" or "abroad." If you open 
abroad you should then open at home in re- 
turn with the nearest club at hand or the 
same club you opened abroad with, or more 
so, your most bitter rival, for this no doubt 
would be your best money maker. You must 
all have an opening day at home and I would 
advise as early an opening at home as can be 
arranged after the season starts. After you 
have all arranged your opening dates I would 
book the games in two series each both at 
home and abroad and I would not book at 
home games for more than two series at any 
one time, and do not be away from home any 
longer than you can possibly avoid. Two 

64 



series of two games each series are plenty in 
leagues of this kind. 

Try and pick out the best days for your 
club to be at home, that is the days that will 
likely be patronized the best, and arrange your 
schedule accordingly. Keep on going with 
the dates until you have completed the 50 
games at home and the 50 games abroad with 
all of the clubs, and be sure that you have the 
equal number of games arranged both at home 
and abroad. A schedule of this kind would 
cover a period of time say from May 15th to 
Sept. 15th, thereabouts or in other words 
would give you a playing season of four 
months period, not including Sunday games. 
Sometimes it's a good policy for a small league 
to close the season on "Labor Day." I think 
this is the best way for a new league to do in 
making out the schedule, by so doing no mem- 
ber will have any kick coming if he gets the 
worst of it. Divide the holidays equally, or 
play where you think the most money would 
be made in playing the games on those days. 
Some leagues have had their schedules made 
out by a schedule maker who is usually paid 
a small sum for his work, but I have found 
that this does not always prove satisfactory 
to all, especially in the new league. Sometimes 
the president of the league makes out a couple 
of schedules, and submits them to the league at 
the schedule meeting for the league members 
approval. This is a good idea and especially 
so after the league has been in existence for 
one or more seasons. I would advise the 
guarantees to be $50.00 in a league of this 
kind with a rain guarantee of $25.00, and an 
equal division of the gate receipts on holi- 
days in all cases. If you are playing Sunday 
games in your league divide the Sunday re- 
ceipts also, namely the gate receipts only, the 
grand stand receipts not included. If the 
cities are about an equal size follow the 
straight guarantee policy, but if there are three 
large cities in your league of, say, 40,000 to 
60,000 population and three small cities, say, 
65 



10,000 to 20,000 I think the gate receipts 
should be divided equally for every game 
played, by so doing the larger cities would 
help support the smaller ones, consequently 
keeping the league alive. Of course the $50.00 
guarantee applies in all games played just 
the same with the privilege of 50% of the 
gate receipts only. You should pay close 
attention to the attendance, that is the people 
that pass the gate. Take up your own tickets 
at the gate or have your secretary attend to 
it, and settle correctly with the club you are 
playing with whether it be on the road or at 
home according to the admission paid. A 
series of two games each series is sufficient 
for such a league. The New York State and 
New England leagues are model leagues, and 
I understand they have played in series of 
two games to a series, but I cannot say at 
this writing whether they follow this plan or 
not. 

THE UMPIRES. 

It is not a difficult matter to secure um- 
pires, but it is a difficult matter to secure 
competent umpires. The president of the league 
will have full jurisdiction over the umpires, 
and will pay them according to the amount 
specified in the league constitution and by- 
laws. For a newly organized small league, 
I think it advisable to pay the umpires im- 
mediately after each game for their work. 
This does away with a lot of trouble. Um- 
pires can be secured for $6.00 per game for 
their services, and they pay their own ex- 
penses, which is a sufficient amount in a small 
league, especially where the jumps are not 
large. This will be $6.00 for every game um- 
pired and $3.00 in case of rain or postpone- 
ment of games. In larger leagues that have 
been in existence a few years the umpires 
are usually paid a salary by the month for 
their work and the salary regulated according 
to the classification of the league. 
66 



ARTICLE II. 



In the spring of 1905 I organized the Inter- 
State league, and had I not taken hold of the 
baseball situation in that section of the coun- 
try, I doubt if the Inter- State league would 
have been in existence at the present writing. 
The league is still doing business at this writ- 
ing, and is one of the best little Class D leagues 
in the country. We organized under Class D, 
and adopted practically the following consti- 
tution that I give in this chapter but I shall 
add a few amendments to this constitution, 
thereby covering practically everything neces- 
sary, and I cheerfully recommend this consti- 
tution to be good enough for any small league 
to adopt at the start. 

CONSTITUTION. 



Article I. Name and Object. 

This league shall be called The Inter-State 
League of Professional Baseball Clubs. Its 
object shall be to promote and perpetuate the 
game of baseball, to surround it with such safe- 
guards as will justify public confidence in its 
integrity and methods ; to protect and advance 
the mutual interests of professional ball play- 
ers, and to provide for and regulate the games 
for the championship of this league. 

The league shall consist of the baseball clubs 
of Olean, N. Y. ; Jamestown, N. Y. ; Erie, 
Pa. ; Bradford, Pa. ; Kane, Pa., and Couders- 
port. Pa., and such other clubs as may from 
time to time be admitted. 

ARTICLE II. 

The officers of the league shall consist of a 
president, secretary-treasurer and six directors. 
One director shall represent each club hold- 
ing a franchise in the league, and shall be 
elected at the first regular meeting of the 
league in each year by vote of one representa- 
tive from each club holding a franchise. 
ARTICLE III. 

The president shall preside at all meetings 
67 



of the league, preserve order and enforce the 
laws thereof. He shall countersign all orders 
for the payment of money, direct the calling 
of all meetings, decide all questions of inter- 
est to the league when not in session, appoint 
umpires subject to the approval of the board 
of directors, and appoint officers pro tern and 
committees not otherwise provided for. He 
shall have direction and supervision of the 
league when not in session and keep a record 
of' all work done and report same to first 
meeting of board of directors thereafter. 
ARTICLE IV. 

The general secretary-treasurer shall keep a 
record of all meetings of the board of directors, 
and shall receive all the money from each "of 
the clubs holding a franchise. He shall dis- 
burse all moneys from the treasury and draw 
all orders for payment of same. He shall 
keep a record of all players and their contracts 
with each club of the league, and require the 
manager of each club to furnish a certified 
copy of contract with each player and disburse 
all moneys as ordered to by the president and 
board of directors, and perform such other 
duties as may devolve upon him. 
l ARTICLE V. 

The directors shall consist of one representa- 
tive from each club, and shall have control 
of all matters of interest to the league. They 
shall have power to decide questions appealed 
from the different clubs, fill all vacancies ac- 
cruing with persons recommended by club 
from which vacancy occurs, act upon any com- 
plaint or charge brought against any club, and 
shall settle such other business as may be 
brought before them by the president, secre-* 
tary-treasurer or individual clubs. 
ARTICLE VI. 

The salary limit per month shall be seven 
hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), exclusive of 
the manager's salary. Any violation of this 
proven against any club holding a franchise, 
the club shall be fined not less than $50.00 or 
68 



more than $100.00 or disfranchisement, or 
either or both at the discretion of the board 
of directors. 

ARTICLE VII. 

The membership of any club in this league 
may be terminated: (1) By failure to present 
its nine at the time and place specified for any 
championship game, unless caused by unavoid- 
able delay or accident in traveling. (2) By 
allowing open betting or pool selling on its 
grounds or in any buildings owned or occupied 
by it. (3) By playing any game of ball with 
any club that is disqualified or ineligible under 
this constitution. (4) By offering, agreeing, 
con sni ring or attempting to lose any game 
of ball, or failure to immediately suspend any 
piayer wno shall be proven guilty of offering, 
agreeing, conspiring or attempting to lose any 
game of ball, or of being interested in any 
pool or wager against his own club. (5) By 
disbandment of its organization or team. (6) 
By failing or refusing to fulfill its contract 
obligation. (7) By failing or refusing to com- 
ply with any lawful demand of the board of 
directors. (8) By wilfully violating any pro- 
vision of thrs constitution or rules made in 
pursuance thereof. (9) By leaving the field 
of play before the full game has been played, 
except in case of rain or as provided by the 
rules. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

Any player jumping contract with any club 
in the league shall not be signed by any other 
club in the league without the written con- 
sent of the club from which he jumped. 
Players suspended can only be reinstated by 
the club which suspended them. All players 
shall be disciplined in accordance with the con- 
tract from the league. Rowdy baseball play- 
ing and gambling will not be allowed, and any 
player may be removed from the game by the 
umpire or fined for rowdy actions. The fine 
shall not be less than $5.00 or more than 
$25.00 and shall be paid into the treasury of 
the league. 

69 



ARTICLE IX. 

The necessary funds of the league shall be 
derived from a membership fee of not less than 
$25.00 and from such other assessments as 
the league may find necessary, and from fines 
collected from clubs and players. Finds and 
other funds shall be paid to the secretary- 
treasurer of the league. 

ARTICLE X. 

Visiting clubs shall be given a guarantee of 
$50.00 per game with a rain guarantee of 
$25.00 excepting on holidays which shall be 
divided by fifty per cent, of the gate receipts 
to each club. In case a game is postponed 
by rain, the rain guarantee of $25.00 shall 
be paid the visiting club, and the game played 
off at its next appearance and only $25.00 paid 
for this game at the time played. 

Clubs selling season tickets and issuing 
passes shall require the holders thereof to 
present them at the ticket office and procure 
regular admission tickets for same for games 
played on holidays. Basis of division of fifty 
per cent, shall be from the tickets received 
at the gate. Visiting clubs may put man on 
gate to take tickets for all games on the per- 
centage basis. 

ARTICLE XL 

A schedule committee shall be appointed who 
shall draw up a schedule of games, which shall 
be adopted by the board of directors, which 
committee shall consist of representatives from 
each club holding a franchise. 

ARTICLE XII. 

The president shall appoint three umpires 
to be approved by the board of directors who 
shall preside at the games. He may also 
appoint extra umpires if the league deems it 
necessary. The umpire shall have full con- 
trol of the game, and no club shall permit play- 
ers or manager to interfere or delay the game 
in any way, but shall continue the game under 
protest if such be warranted. The umpire will 
70 



notify the president who will notify the di- 
rectors, and they will decide the case at their 
next regular meeting. Any club who shall 
call its club from the field shall be fined $100.00 
or disfranchisement, or both according to the 
vote of directors, no matter what the trouble 
may be. The salary of the umpires shall be 
paid at the rate of $6.00 a game paid from 
the funds of the club where the games are 
scheduled. In case of a game being post- 
poned by rain the umpires shall receive $3.00, 
one-half, and the remaining $3.00 when the 
game is played off at the club's next appear- 
ance. Umpires must appear on the field in 
a regular umpire's blue uniform and present 
themselves to the manager of the home club 
at least one half hour before time of play. 

This constitution shall govern all meetings 
and can be amended at a regular meeting at 
which each club is represented by a director, 
and by a two-thirds majority vote. The In- 
ter-State League shall be affiliated with the 
National Association of Professional Baseball 
Leagues, and under the National Association. 

The following shall be the order of business 
unless suspended by a two-thirds vote of the 
club members : 

(1) Reading minutes of last meeting. 

(2) Report of board of directors. 

(3) Report of committee. 

(4) Election of new members. 

(5) Amendments of constitution. 

(6) Amendment of playing rules. 

(7) Election of officers. 

(8) Miscellaneous business. 

(9) Adjournment. 



71 



CHAPTER XIII. 



ARTICLE I. 
HOW TO SIGN PLAYERS FOR 
BASEBALL CLUB. 



ARTICLE II. 
HOW TO GET A BIG BASEBALL 
MAIL WITH HUNDREDS OF LET- 
TERS. 



ARTICLE I. 

It is very essential for your financial wel- 
fare to have a winning baseball club repre- 
senting your city, providing you can secure a 
winning combination, and I would advise you 
to use every effort in order to do so. What 
I mean by a winning club, I mean to say, a club 
that stands one, two or three in the league race 
for the pennant, that is if you are playing 
league ball, but if you have a club playing in- 
dependent ball try and have a club that is 
winning the majority of its games. The pub- 
lic enjoys a winner, but at the same time I 
would not advise having a club that is winning- 
all the time. If you have a club that beats 
every thing gaily west that comes along you 
will find in time the attendance will drop off 
greatly. The public will say that the other 
clubs are not fast enough. Keep the clubs as 
evenly matched as possible. This creates in- 
terest and the patronage will boom. Keep your 
club one, two or three in the league race, and 
as evenly matched with the leaders as possible, 
and if you do this I am sure that you will be 
satisfied with your gate receipts in most any 
town or city. It*is about as bad to have a club 
beating every thing in sight as it is to have a 
club that is losing every thing in sight. There- 
fore I want to state emphatically again, try and 
keep your club in one, two, three order or 
fighting for first place all the while if you 
want the best returns. If you succeed in ac- 
72 



complishing this you will find that the crowds 
will be on deck and with you, and the news- 
papers will also do a large amount of boosting 
for you and all this will be great advertising 
in your favor. After you have organized the 
league or an independent club as the case may 
be, that you may intend to run, the newspapers 
in the section of the country where you are 
located in a radius of many miles will take 
up the interests of your league and publish 
the details of interest from time to time. 

These papers will, no doubt, devote consider- 
able, space for the interests of your league 
or club, consequently this will attract the at- 
tention of many ball players and you will re- 
ceive many letters daily from these players 
making application for a position on your 
club. These letters will . come mostly from 
"amateurs" and "old leaguers" or better 
known as "has beens" that have seen their 
best days on the diamond, and they will try 
and catch on with a newly organized small 
league or independent club. Do not throw 
these fellows down. I think it advisable to 
carry a few of these men sometimes, pro- 
viding they are not too old and have the right 
habits. You can use an old experienced 
catcher with a fairly good arm, and also a 
first baseman to a good advantage. They will 
steady the younger players on the team, and 
some times work wonders in developing a 
young bunch of players. 

All the letters that you receive be sure and 
read them over carefully. I would suggest 
while selecting your club to pick out players 
that have had a little experience, say, for small 
leagues or independent clubs. Try and select 
players from 18 to 26 years of age that are 
of good weight and height if possible, or you 
might try and sign a good stocky lively lot 
of fellows, also full of ginger with good arms, 
good runners that are intelligent. Sign play- 
ers that play with their heads and not with 
their hands and feet, and especially ones that 
will listen to what you have to say or what 
73 



your manager has to say. I would advise 
signing one or more old heads of experience. 
one as a catcher and one as a first baseman 
for the club that understands their business, 
and capable of handling and developing 
young players. Such a man or men will be 
the backbone of your club, and will keep the 
club playing steady and also the pitchers work- 
ing right. I would make one of these fellows 
playing manager and captain of the club. Try 
and secure two good left handed pitchers, both 
big fellows with speed and good control of 
the ball, and two good head)- right handed 
pitchers also if possible. 

I like to see big fellows pitching. For first 
base sien another old head that is a corking 
good hitter, and one that can catch in case 
the regular catcher gets hurt or laid vp in 
any way. These two players could exchange 
positions when necessary. Your infielders, sec- 
ond base, third base and stort-stop should be 
a lively lot of players, full of ginger all the 
time, and active on their feet and not afraid 
to talk or take any chances. They should be 
good base runners, hitters and bunters, and 
accurate throwers ready to take advantage of 
everything. Your outfield should consist of 
two good sluggers and they should be able to 
cover a lot of ground, one in left field and 
one in center field. You can play a pitcher 
in right field, always play the one that is the 
best hitter when he is not pitching, but I do 
not approve of playing good pitchers in the 
outfield unless it is in a small league or inde- 
pendent club. This would give you twelve 
men on your club and a well balanced club at 
that, and if the old head for your manager- 
captain would drill the proper spirit and team 
play into a bunch of players of this kind and 
manage to keep harmony in the ranks, I am 
sure that you would have a winning combina- 
tion, and would not have much trouble in 
keeping your club near the top of the race. 
It will be quite a difficult proposition to sign 
such a club by correspondence, however, some- 

74 



times such a thing can be accomplished. If 
you have never seen the players in action that 
you are signing, and if you never have had 
the actual experience in signing players I will 
endeavor to point out to you the best way 
to sign such a club by corespondence. 

When you receive a letter from a player and 
his record looks good to you on paper, or in 
other words by his tell in his letter, write 
him back asking him to give you the name of 
the club that he played with last season pro- 
viding he did not mention the club to you in 
his letter. Have him forward on a dozen 
or so clippings of games with the tabulated 
scores of games that he participated in if he 
can procure them for you. Amateurs as a 
rule are great fellows to carry clippings of 
previous games they have taken part in, and 
no doubt he can forward such clippings on to 
you for your approval. If you are unable to 
secure clippings from him write some one in 
the town where he played, and you can usually 
get a good line on your man from the sporting- 
editor of the newspapers, who are usually a 
fairly good judge of ball players in their 
vicinity. Find out in some way what his record 
as a ball player has been aside from what he 
writes you. If he batted well and fielded 
well on the club that made a good reputation 
the past season and was considered one of 
the stars of that club I would advise signing 
this player for a trial on your club. This is 
about the best way to sign amateurs, and be 
sure that you get legitimate clippings or recom- 
mendations of the player's past record. Some- 
times parties will write you recommending a 
player friend of .theirs. I do not take much 
stock in this way, in fact I have been bun- 
coed in this way many times myself, so I 
would advise having the player show his cre- 
dentials. Look the clippings over carefully 
and try and pick out the strong batters. The 
above will apply to players that have not 
participated in games under organized base- 
ball and that have no official records in the 

75 



baseball guides. When a player writes and 
tells you that he has played with such and 
such a club and in such and such a league 
last season, and that his batting average was 
so and so, and his fielding average so and so, 
all that will be necessary for you to do in order 
to see if he is telling the truth, will be to 
consult the Spaulding Baseball Guide, and 
find out just what his record is in the league 
he states that he played in the previous season. 
Turn to the league that he played in and look 
him up. The Spaulding Baseball Guide I think 
publishes the record of all players that par- 
ticipate in games under organized baseball 
and also most of the college games. Therefore 
you can find the record of any player you want 
to look up that took part in games played in 
organized baseball the year previous of the 
issue of the guide, and no player can flim- 
flam you or gold brick you in this respect. 

Try and sign a good, clean lot of fellows and 
particularly those that are not booze fighters 
if you want to make a hit in your town. The 
time has come when the public will not stand 
for rowdyism among ball players on or off 
the field. In a town from 5,000 to 20,000 
population it is a good policy to sign a bunch 
of college and ex-college players that have 
a good college baseball reputation. You may 
have to pay a little more money for the ser- 
vices of such players but it will pay you suf- 
ficiently in the end if they deliver the goods, 
and especially so if you have an independent 
club in a city the size of the above mentioned. 

Always keep your club well uniformed, and 
up-to-date. ■ This creates a good impression. 
A small league or independent club usually has 
for its salary limit as a starter anywhere from 
$750.00 to $1,000.00 a month. A club with a 
salary of $1,000.00 to $1,200.00 a month for 
the entire club's salary should give you a pret- 
ty good club for a small city these days, and 
properly balanced and handled should get the 
patronage in most any small league or inde- 
pendent town. If you wish to organize a 

76 



stronger league in, say, cities from 25,000 to 
75,000 population I would advise starting with 
a salary limit of, say, $1,500.00 to $1,800.00. 
This limit can be increased from time to 
time if desired, and the larger the cities the 
larger the salary limit of your club should 
be. This goes according to classification un- 
der organized baseball and full details can 
be had by writing the secretary of the Na- 
tional Association when you get ready to or- 
ganize your league. 

In baseball you want to start in a small way 
and gain the actual experience, then you can 
go higher and venture out. Therefore I state 
that cities ranging anywhere from 8,000 or 
10,000 to 50,000 in population I would not 
exceed a limit of $750.00 or $850.00 on the 
start. I have known good leagues to start 
with a salary limit of $750.00, but this was 
eventually increased from time to time after 
the first year. 

When the public demands faster ball then 
will be time enough to increase your salary 
limit a little. Keep the clubs well balanced 
if possible and do not pay out all the money 
in salaries to the players. I would also like 
to add that when you sign a player always be 
sure and sign him on trial, especially if you 
do not know the player and the quality of 
ball that he can dish up. If the player makes 
good in the trial then you can arrange terms 
satisfactory to both parties and offer him a 
regular contract. 

ARTICLE II. 



HOW TO GET A BIG BASEBALL 
MAIL WITH HUNDREDS OF LET- 
TERS. 

This may sound big to you but I want to 
tell you it's the actual truth based upon my 
own experience, when I say that I have re- 
ceived over six hundred letters from one small 
advertisement in a sporting paper, and to tell 
the truth I grew mighty tired reading them. 
11 



If you advertise for players in one or more 
sporting papers the landlord of the hotel with 
whom yon are staying will think that you 
are in the mail order business by the large 
amount of mail you will receive daily. It 
creates quite an impression to have a large 
bunch of mail handed you every morning 
when you go down to the office, or in fact 
about every time the mail carrier comes in he 
will have something for you, and at the same 
time you naturally feel good natnred over it. 
Now 7 if you want to receive a good big mail 
just place a small advertisement in the Sport- 
ing Life and also one in the Sporting Nezvs, 
two weekly baseball publications, which will 
cost but a small amount each week for both 
advertisements. The advertisements should 
read as follows : The one for a newly or- 
ganized club should read : 

Wanted — Good hustling experienced base- 
ball players for the newly organized 

" of the 

(name of club here) 

(name of league) 
league. Also capable playing manager. Ad- 
dress 

(your name and address) 

If you are organizing a fast independent 
baseball club have the advertisement read like 
this: 

Wanted — Good hustling and temperate base- 
ball players for the fast 

(name of club here) 

Independent Baseball Club. Good salaries 
paid. College men please write 

(your name and address) 

In this last advertisement you will observe 
that I do not say college men preferred. How- 
ever, if you choose to sign an entire team con- 
sisting solely of college players have the ad- 
vertisement read college men preferred. Send 
either one of the above advertisements ac- 
cording to the kind of club you are organiz- 

78 



ing, of course. One advertisement to the 
Sporting Life, Philadelphia, Pa., and one ad- 
vertisement to the Sporting News, St. Louis, 
Mo., and, say, let the advertisement run four 
consecutive issues and I'll guarantee that you 
will get mighty tired reading the letters that 
you will receive in answer to the advertise- 
ments. If, however, you are not satisfied with 
the letters received and want a still larger 
mail why just write to half a dozen sporting 
editors oh some of the largest city dailies near- 
est you, simply saying that you are organizing 
such and such a club and ask if he will please 
make an announcement of it in his paper stating 
that you would like to hear from capable ball 
players for your club. This is good news for 
the paper and generally the sporting editor 
will gladly run this article on the sporting 
page. If you do this your box at the hotel 
will have to be increased in size in order to 
hold your mail, and if you continue this policy 
I'll guarantee that you will receive many hun- 
dreds of letters and get mighty tired of read- 
ing them. 



79 



CHAPTER XIV. 



HOW TO RAISE MONEY BY THE 
SALE OF SEASON TICKETS—A 
GOOD PROPOSITION. 

The season ticket proposition for raising- 
money for a baseball club I consider one of 
the best in small cities for various reasons. 
In the first place you give the purchaser some- 
thing in return for his money subscribed, and 
consequently you have some foundation to 
talk on when you start out to raise money by 
this method. Perhaps you may be practically 
an entire stranger to the public where you are, 
and if you were and started out to raise funds 
the skeptical ones might be a little inquisitive, 
and ask you various questions as to what you 
intend to do with the money, etc., etc. These 
wise guys are usually very few and far be- 
tween, I have found during my own experience, 
but what few I have run up against I have 
most always found them to be "N. G.," con- 
sequently I dropped them like I would a hot 
potato. Never give these fellows any inside 
information. Some of these wise ones will 
have the nerve to ask, why don't you have 
a. secretary appointed to handle the funds? 
Never allow this to be done, for if you do you 
are practically throwing your business into 
the hands of others, and then every one will 
know your business as well as yourself. You 
can avoid this by telling them that you are 
capable of handling your own money and act- 
ing as your own secretary. Therefore I be- 
lieve that the sale of season tickets as a dona- 
tion for the club from the business men is as 
good a way as any to raise funds, possibly 
aside from advertisements, and at the same 
time does away with a lot of foolish questions 
being asked by a certain element. It is simply 
a business transaction pure and simple, and 
if a man takes a ticket in return from you for 
his donation of, say, ten, fifteen or twenty-five 
dollars for the season he surely gets value 
80 



received providing the club goes through 
the whole season, but if the club was com- 
pelled to disband about the middle of the 
season owing to rainy and bad weather or 
lack of patronage he gets one-half its value 
anyway, and you should sell your season tick- 
ets on the condition and thorough understand- 
ing that you accept his money as a donation 
toward the support of the baseball club and 
give him a season ticket in return for same 
but that you do not guarantee anything and 
that you will not be responsible for the club 
playing the entire season in case the patronage 
is not sufficient to support the club or rainy 
weather keeps the people away and you are 
compelled to disband the club thereby. Ex- 
plaining this and having it in writing you take 
no responsibility, the party that donates takes 
the chances. What good live business man 
would not donate something toward the sup- 
port of the baseball club in his city nowadays? 
However, if you are located in a good live town 
there is no danger of the club not going 
through the entire season, conditions favorable, 
but I merely wish to point this out in order 
to place yourself on the right side. I would 
advise making the price of season tickets ten 
dollars for a small league, that is where a 
fifty game schedule is drawn up to be played 
at home. Also for independent clubs I would 
make the price ten dollars for a ticket. In 
a larger league charge more for a ticket, 
charge according to the classification of the 
league and the number of games played. The 
business man that donates for a season ticket 
as a rule does not attend over half the games 
played, and I have known men to make a 
donation and they never witnessed a single 
game. They simply donate something for the 
good of the club and also in order to have a 
club located in their city for the advertise- 
ment the club would give the city. Make 
these season tickets that are sold for ten dol- 
lars good for the gate admission only, and 
not for the grand stand and do not make them 

81 



transferable. If you do someone will be in 
the game every day on the ticket, that is days 
that there are games. Have it distinctly under- 
stood that they are cheap at that price and that 
you cannot afford to make them transferable, 
unless it is to some one of the purchaser's 
family, but if there are two members or more 
in a firm that take a ticket why I think it 
advisable to let any one member of the firm 
use the ticket on days of games, but not more 
than one should use it. Some clubs issue 
season tickets where they play, say, seventy 
home games and ask twenty-five dollars for 
them. These tickets usually entitle the hold- 
er to gate admission and a grand stand seat. 
I do not think it advisable to ask more than 
ten dollars for a ticket unless you have a 
franchise in a league of fairly good sized 
cities, say, around one hundred thousand in 
population or so. T will give you a good 
form for a season ticket, one that is simple, 
neat and inexpensive. They should not cost 
over $2.00 or $2.50 for the first one hundred. 
Have them printed on a six-ply water-proof 
card board. For an illustration we will say 
that you are the owner of the Scranton 
Baseball Club of the New York league. 

FORM AND WORDING ON TICKET. 

Scranton Baseball Club, New York State 
League, season of 1908. 
This ticket entitles the bearer to all home 
gptties played by the Scranton Baseball Club 
during the season of 1908. 

NOT TRANSFERABLE. 

Admit Mr 

(name of purchaser here) 

No 

(number here) (your name as pres. or mgr.) 

You can have a large date of the year 
printed in the center of the ticket in tyne 
about one inch high and of a bright color. 
This will make your ticket show up nicely. 
Have the card about four or four and half 
inches by two inches regulation size on thick 
82 



water-proof card board. Give the above form 
to the printer and he will arrange an attrac- 
tive ticket for you. I have known season 
tickets to be issued in book form fifty tickets 
in the book to correspond with the fifty games 
scheduled in the league, so when the party 
holder presents the book at the gate the ticket 
is torn out to correspond with the game. I 
would not advise this method for the books 
are much more expensive, and besides cause 
a lot of trouble and confusion. I have found 
during my own experience where such books 
are issued, and in case the party holder should 
miss a game he invariably would try and take 
some friend in at the gate on the ticket he 
had missed, or even hand his book to some 
one so as they could get the benefit of it. 

Suppose you have a big game on for a Sat- 
urday or a holiday and a large crowd is out 
side the gates in a hurry to get in, and a few 
of these fellows come along with their books 
and want to bring in a friend or two with 
tickets missed. You cannot afford to let them 
in. You cannot afford to argue with them. 
You cannot afford to take the time to tear 
them off, so there you are. I think these books 
are a great inconvenience, cause a lot of 
trouble and if you give the visiting club half 
the gate receipts on a holiday you are big 
money out if you allow these missed tickets 
to pass your gate. Only one can go in on 
the card board ticket, and no missed games 
show on that, so this is why I think the card 
board ticket is the only one. The best and 
most convenient way is to have a simple card 
board ticket made out according to the form 
given above with the name of the purchaser 
written plainly and as you sold these tickets 
yourself you will know just who holds these 
tickets and no one can work you on the gate 
providing you are there and if you are not 
instruct your assistant to look after this also. 
You must watch this very carefully. 

In a city from 10,000 to" 20,000 population a 
man that would be considered a fair salesman 
83 



or hustler should sell 75 to 100 or more season 
tickets. In a city from 20,000 to 50,000 
population such a man should sell 100 to 150 
tickets or more. This of course depends upon 
your own personal ability and appearance as 
a hustler and salesman and also in your getting 
out among the fans and being a good mixer. 
It's up to you in this case as to your ability 
as a man and salesman. Remember you can- 
not sell tickets by sitting in your hotel or 
your room, or looking out the window in the 
hotel lobby as I have known some to do. If 
you go out each day and work faithfully, call 
on every business man and also- professional 
men and I would suggest for you to secure 
the services of some young man well acquaint- 
ed, and especially one that has good prestage 
in the town to go around with you at first 
and introduce you to the good people. I am 
confident that you can dispose of many tickets 
in this way. If however, you find that you 
lack the nerve and consider yourself not quali- 
fied for the job the best thing for you to do 
would be to secure the services of a good 
reliable advertising man, one of experience 
that is familiar with program work, to sell 
tickets and raise money for you. You can 
hire this man on the percentage basis giving 
him, say, twenty-five per cent, of what he 
brings in, and he to do all soliciting and col- 
lecting. In this way you will have no trouble 
in disposing of your tickets. Whether you so- 
licit yourself or whether you hire the work 
done it is usually a good way to secure a 
list of, say, fifty or one hundred names of the 
dyed-in-the-wool baseball fans from some local 
ball crank that knows them all before starting 
out, and be sure and call on every one of 
them. Do not miss a one, and if you succeed 
in selling to half that are on the list you are 
doing finely. It is a good policy when you sell 
a ticket to a man to ask him if he can't sight 
you to some friend of his that would be liable 
to help you out by taking a ticket. Nine times 
out of ten they can and by working in this 

84 



way you will succeed. If you locate in a 
town, say, February 1st or 15th, I would ad- 
vise starting out about a month later with 
your list. Your club will be organized by 
this time and you will be signing the players, 
and the people will be somewhat acquainted 
with you then, and have faith that there is to 
be a chib in their city, consequently you will 
be able to dispose of your tickets easier, but 
in case you did not locate in the city until, 
say, March 1st or 15th, I would make it a 
point to start selling tickets about one month 
or so before players reported. This will give 
you ample time to solicit and make collections 
before they arrive and have this work out of 
the way. 

I would not advise getting your tickets 
printed and sell them outright. It's usually a 
hard proposition to tackle, but at the same 
time it can be done for there is always some 
one who is willing to help out. The best way 
to do is to go to some lawyer's office and have 
his stenographer strike off on legal cap paper 
and neatly typewritten and a cover put on 
about four or five sheets of paper sufficient 
to have the signatures of a hundred or so 
names, and be sure and have the tickets made 
payable about a week or ten days before your 
players report s thus giving you time to make 
your collections. This is by far the best and 
easiest method to solicit the ticket proposition. 
If your players report, say, on April 25th, make 
the tickets payable April 15th. If your play- 
ers reoort May 10th, make the tickets pay- 
able May 1st, and use this form for the head-, 
ing of your list and neatly written, the same 
as any subscription list should be: 

FORM. 

We, the undersigned, do hereby agree to 

subscribe the amount of 

(price here) 

payable April 15th, for the support of the 
(name of club here) 

85 



in the 

(name of league here) 

In return for the said donation the 

(name of club here) 
will give the undersigned one season ticket 
which entitles him to all the home games 

played by the 

(name of club here) 

during the season of 

(date of year here) 

This is all that is necessary and is a good 
form providing you are simply renting a ball 
park, but if you are building a new park or 
going to considerable expense remodeling an 
old one, I would add something like this 
to the form : 

Said money subscribed by the business men 
is for the organization and equipment of club, 
transportation of players, building park or 
repairing park, grading ground, etc. 

By adding the above will give the correct 
idea of what you intend to do with the money 
subscribed and business men would help out 
more readily providing they knew the funds 
were to go toward such purposes. 

I would take the list to the mayor of the 
city and have him sign it first for a starter. 
Be sure and give him his ticket gratis for you 
will want him to make a brief speech at your 
opening and you will feel duty bound to give 
him the ticket gratis on this account. Then 
go to the dyed-in-the-wool fans among the 
other city officials and get what names you 
can on the list, not giving any more free tick- 
ets unless you give one to the chief of police. 
You want as few dead heads as possible and 
no one else should get a ticket gratis aside 
from the two mentioned above. Have a cap- 
able young man assist you and introduce you 
to the people and by working diligently I am 
sure that you will get there. 



86 



CHAPTER XV. 



HOW TO RAISE MONEY BY SUB- 
SCRIPTION. 

The method of raising money by sub- 
scription applies principally to where stock 
companies are formed in the smaller towns 
and cities for the support of the local base- 
ball club. These companies are usually 
called baseball associations and invariably 
incorporated, but a man locating in a city 
as an entire stranger and making the base- 
ball business his only enterprise for finan- 
cial returns, I do not deem it advisable to 
raise money on the subscription plan only 
in one way, and that way I will endeavor to 
describe in this chapter. If you raise money 
on the subscription plan I would not advise 
raising money by the sale of season tickets 
also. You will find that when you start 
out to raise money by the ordinary sub- 
scription plan and are asking for a fairly 
good-sized donation, payable, say, prior to 
the opening of the season, you may find 
obstacles in your way in the line of ques- 
tions being fired at you, and the first crack 
out of the box, those you solicit will ask: 
Why don't you have a stock company or- 
ganized? and why don't you have a secre- 
tary appointed to handle the funds, and 
what do you intend to do with the mosey, 
etc., etc., and a dozen more whys and 
wherefores, and ifs and ans, and you will 
find vourself up against it all the time, and 
if you pursue this course you will feel em- 
barrassed. This is why I recommend the 
season ticket proposition in preference to 
the subscription plan, and I think it is by 
far the better method, especially where one 
is a stranger and alone in organizing his 
club, and more especially so if he has to go 
to the expense of building a new ball park, 
or remodeling an old park. The business 
men expect you must have some assistance, 
87 



and will stand ready to help you in this 
respect. They certainly do not expect you 
to furnish a small city with baseball en- 
tirely at your own expense. If the city is 
a large one and the patronage of the games 
warrant big financial returns, and is sure to 
be a big money-maker, it would be differ- 
ent. You would not ask for donations in 
this case, but if you are located in a small 
city and wish to raise money on the sub- 
scription plan, I advocate the following 
plan strongly, and V think it is a corking 
good one too, as you will see for yourself, 
and applies to where you have no ball park 
to build, simply where you lease a park 
at a reasonable rental and have, no further 
expenses. The actual playing season in a 
small league or independent club usually 
covers a period of about four months in the 
north — say from May 15th to September 
15th.' I would advise you to get out the 
ordinary subscription paper plan in a neatly 
typewritten form with a strong heading, 
"which form and heading I'll give later in 
this chapter," and when you go around so- 
liciting, ask the business men to subscribe 
as liberally as possible toward the sup- 
port of the club for the season. Have the 
donations made payable, say in four install- 
ments, or payable the first or fifteenth of 
every month, as you choose, or in other 
words you collect from the business men 
your monthly donations, say, for instance, 
May 15th, June 15th, July 15th and Aug. 
15th. Some business men would donate 
ten dollars and even more each month, 
some five dollars, some two, some three, 
etc. Take any amount you can get, even 
down to fifty cents a month. Call on every 
one to help out, and you can probably raise 
five hundred dollars and even more, payable 
to you each month in this way. If you have 
this amount to bank on each month, and 
we figure your club salary at $800.00 a 
month, you would have more than half the 



amount of your club's salary coming in 
each month on your subscription plan. In 
a city of 20,000 or 30,000 population, you 
should raise on the monthly subscription 
plan nearly enough money to meet the sal- 
ary of your players, and the money coming 
in at the gate aside from guarantees should 
be practically velvet for you. For when the 
club would be playing away from home 
you should receive enough money from 
guarantees to cover hotel and railroad ex- 
penses, and leave a balance besides. You 
will find by working on this plan it will 
prove to be a corking good money-maker 
for you in a city of 15,000 to 30,000 popu- 
lation, and if your club is a winner and 
you are furnishing good ball, and even if 
the club is costing $1,000.00 a month, it 
should be self-supporting from the gate 
receipts in any live town. It should even 
do better, it should be a money-maker even 
without Sunday games, but we will figure 
that you are breaking even with the gate re- 
ceipts, and you are having $700.00 a month 
coming in from your subscription list. In 
the four months you would realize $2,- 
800.00, not saying anything about the 
money you would realize from your score 
card advertisements, fence advertisements, 
score board advertisements, refreshment 
privileges and other concessions, and also 
the money that you would receive from 
your exhibition games prior to when your 
salaries begin, and including these should 
swell your net profits from $1,000 to $2,000 
more for the season in a city the size above 
mentioned, thus making your net earnings 
for the season anywhere from $3,800 to 
$4,800, and in a city from 10,000 to 20,- 
0000 larger, your net earnings would be 
larger in proportion. You can see for 
yourself by following this method that if 
a man is capable, and a hustler, he can 
make good money for himself by this plan, 
and therefore, I sincerely think it is the 
89 



only wise plan to follow in raising funds on 
the subscription proposition, and a live and 
up-to-date man should clear for himself in 
a city from 15,000 to 50.000 population any- 
where from $1,500 to $5,000 a season clear 
prorlt. 

As for an illustration I will mention oth- 
ers who have accomplished this fact. When 
I organized the Inter-State league, which 
league included the city of Erie, Pa., in its 
circuit, the parties that were awarded the 
Erie franchise at that time, I was told, had 
no baseball experience then, only in a 
small amateur way, and I might say prac- 
ticallv none whatever, only the experience 
of running a few amateur Sunday games, 
l hey were induced to come into the league 
not knowing whether league ball would 
pay or not, but were told it would, and 
were given the necessary pointers, and they 
went ahead and tried their luck. They 
succeeded in raising about enough monev to 
build a fine new ball park. They played the 
season out, and for their season's work 1 
was told by good authority that they clear- 
ed between $8,000 and $9,000 that season, 
and owned the ball park besides, worth 
probably $2,500 to $3,000— not so bad for a 
starter with practically no experience or 
capital of their own invested for a sea- 
son's work. 

The manager of the Lynchburg, Va., 
club in the Virginia league, a city of 20,000 
population at the time, started there with 
no capital, and did not even raise any 
money so I was told, simplv depended upon 
his gate receipts for his finances; he cleared 
$4,000 the first year, I was told, and had his 
franchise besides which he could have sold 
anywhere from $2,500 to $5,000 that fall 
for cash, so you can see what others have 
done. I could name many more instances 
like these two mentioned above where big 
money has been made from small cities on 
practically no capital invested, and some 
90 



cases no capital at all invested to start 
with; the money being raised from the 
business men to start with and the 
business men are usually ready to assist 
financially in helping you get your ball 
club started. 

Here is the form I would advise for you 
to use on your subscription list, providing 
you decide to solicit donations on the 
monthly installment or subscription plan 
mentioned above in this chapter: 

Form for Subscription List. 

We, the undersigned, do hereby subscribe 
the amount set opposite our respective 

names for the support of the 

(name of 

during the season of 

club here) 

and agree to pay said 

(year here) 

amount for four consecutive months as fol- 
lows: May 15th, June 15th, July 15th and 
Aug. 15th, when called upon to do so. 



(name of subscriber here) (amount here) 



91 



CHAPTER XVI. 



HOW TO RAISE MONEY ON ADVER- 
TISEMENTS — T H E COST OF 
FENCE ADVERTISING. AND 
SCORE CARD ADVERTISING — 
THE MOST PROFITABLE KIND 
OF A SCORE CARD TO USE, AND 
HOW TO GET IT UP. 

There are two good methods of raising 
money by advertisements: One by secur- 
ing advertisements on the fence around the 
ball park, and the other by soliciting ad- 
vertisements for the score card, both of 
these I consider good methods of raising 
funds, and at the same time this form of ad- 
vertising gives the business man value re- 
ceived for his money invested. 

Most any business man that advertises 
will take an advertisement either on the 
fence or score card, and very often on both, 
I have found, but you must not ask too 
much for the space in cities from 10,000 
up to $50,000 in population. I have found 
during my own experience, as I have made 
a careful study of the baseball advertising 
proposition, as to which would be the most 
satisfactory means of getting the most 
money out of it. First, I will take up fence 
advertising. Now, do not go to the mer- 
chants and try and sell him an advertise- 
ment on the fence for any old price you 
can get, in order to sell it; have a standard 
price and make this one price to all. I 
would not advise selling the merchant 
merely a bare fence space for so much 
money, thus leaving the merchants to hire 
his own painting done. As a rule he will 
not have sufficient time to chase out to the 
ball park and look after everything at- 
tached to the work, and probably in the 
end, providing you follow this method, only 
92 



a few advertisements will be scattered here 
and there on your fence and this will look 
very badly indeed. The best way is for 
you to simply sell the space with all work 
and painting of advertisements complete. 
By this method it will please the merchants 
and be far more satisfactory all around, 
and you should not anticipate much trou- 
ble in disposing of advertisements in this 
way, as you will observe the advertise- 
ments that are on the fences of other ball 
parks in the various cities. I would ad- 
vise making a uniform price of $1.00 to 
$1.50 a running or lineal foot, providing that 
the fence is not over 8 feet high, and make 
this price to everybody, no matter what 
size space the party takes. The nearer the 
grand stand and gates, or the best loca- 
tions on the fence ask the highest prices 
for these spaces, as they are considered 
the most valuable. I would advise having a 
simple little contract printed and arranged 
to suit yourself, and simply saying that you 
sell Mr. So and So, so many lineal or run- 
ning feet of advertising on the fence at the 
baseball park, and that you furnish all work 
of painting and everything complete at the 
rate of $1.00 or $1.50 a lineal foot, good for 
one year, payable as soon as the work is 
completed. Have the merchant sign this 
contract to protect yourself. TaTce the 
above wording to your printer and he will 
get out a nice neat little contract for you 
at a small cost. 

After your contracts are ready I would 
advise having a neat prosnectus or dummy 
drawn up showing the inside space of your 
fence at the ball park that you offer for 
sale, and also a prospectus of the outside of 
the fence marking it off into sections of 
10 feet each section. This will give the 
merchant an idea of the plan of your park, 
and he can select his space easily from it. 
Perhaps he may desire to go out to the 
ball park in order to get a correct view of 
93 



where he wants his advertisement placed. 
This, of course, will be up to you to show 
him. You would have 800 lineal feet of 
available advertising space to sell on the 
inside of your ball park; that is if your park 
is 400 feet square as described in one ot the 
early chanters of this book, or in other 
words you would„ have the left field and 
right field sections of the fence for sale, 
which should be 400 feet to each section. 
Everyone in the grand stand and bleachers 
would be able to get a nice view of these 
two sections, therefore you should be able 
to sell this space readily at the price men- 
tioned above. You would have 800 lineal 
feet, or in other words, all told, 80 spaces 
of 10 feet to a space. Providing you suc- 
ceeded in selling all these spaces at the 
rate of $1.00 to $1.50 a lineal foot you 
should realize on all the inside space of 
your fence $1,000. 

Some merchants would probably take 30 
feet, some 50 feet of space, and in a city 
of say 25,000 to 40,000 you should be able 
to easily dispose of the entire 800 feet ot 
space. I would advise securing the services 
of some hustling painter quick to slap on 
one coat work, which would be srood 
enough to hold for one season according to 
terms of your contract with the merchants. 
This work should cost from twenty-five 
cents to thirty cents a lineal foot. I have 
had this work done for twenty-five cents 
a foot and never paid over thirty-five cents 
a foot on a fence 8 feet high. I would not 
secure a dobber, but hire a good man that 
can cut out nice letters and get a sign up 
that will look attractive and show up in 
good shape when completed. This painter 
will always have a man that can fill in, and 
the two of them will cover a lot of space 
in a day. If you should succeed in filling 
the entire eight hundred feet of space, and 
should realize the sum of one thousand 

94 



dollars we will figure for the advertisements 
therefrom, and we will figure that you pay 
the painter thirty cents a foot for his work, 
he to furnish all paint, you would pay 
the painter all told $240.00. This deducted 
from the $1,000.00 would leave you a clear 
profit of $760.00. You can also sell ad- 
vertising space on the outside of the fence 
especially so where your ball park is in a 
central location along two principal streets. 
This should double the figures given above 
in any good live city. This is a careful 
estimate of what should be accomplished 
in a city the size above mentioned. 

In larger cities from 50,000 population 
and up where your fence is more than 8 
feet high I would ask more money a lineal 
foot for the fence space for the advertise- 
ment and also sell the advertisements both 
on the inside and outside of the fence. Big 
money should be realized by a hustler on 
fence advertising in the larger cities, and 
the location would he'lp materially. You 
have probably noticed the large amount of 
fence advertisements around baseball parks 
in cities of 50,000 population and larger. 
These all pay large returns. The brewers 
are usually good for this class of advertis- 
ing; also cigar manufacturers and distillers. 
It rests with you to a great extent as to 
your ability to sell advertising space and in 
some cities the business men advertise 
more liberally than in others, and for this 
reason it would be a difficult proposition 
to state exactly the amount of space an or- 
dinary man should sell. When the fence 
space is filled you can usually collect yearly 
for these advertisements, bringing in nice 
returns on the money invested. In some 
cities the Business Men's Association pro- 
hibit its members from taking advertise- 
ments ^f any kind, but by attending the 
Business Men's Association meeting you 
can usually arrange to have your proposi- 

95 



tion indorsed by the association, thus giv- 
ing you the right to solicit advertisements 
from the merchants for the benefit of the 
baseball. 



ARTICLE II. 



The best kind of a score card and also 
the most profitable one for you to get out 
in cities ranging anywhere from 10,000 to 
50,000 in population is one printed on an 
ordinary grade of Manila or score card 
paper cut 12x18 inches in size when not 
folded. This paper can be obtained from 
any first-class printing establishment. 
When this sheet is folded in the center you 
will have 4 equal pages of 9x12 inches in 
size. I would advise ruling the spaces for 
advertisements on each page so as they 
will be 4x4 inches in size; by so doing you 
would have on 2 sides of the score card 
six spaces 4 inches square, and in the center 
of the page would be a space 1x4 inches. 
These two pages must be used for the front 
and back pages. The two pages for the 
score space of the home club, and also the 
visiting club should be the two center 
pages and ruled a little different. Have the 
spaces the same size, 4 inches square, but 
the score space should be in the center of 
the card, and should be 6 inches .long and 
4 inches high, giving you at each end a 
space of 4 inches high and lJ/£ inches wide; 
on each of these two pages you would have 
4 spaces 4 inches square and 2 spaces at 
each end of the score space 4x1^4 inches, 
or 4 spaces in all. I will give a diagram of 
how the 2 sides of the card should be drawn 
up, and when folded together you would 
have 2 pages of each or 4 pages in all: 

96 



Two Center Pages for Score Space. 



Front and Back Pages. 



97 



The above is a diagram of how the 2 dif- 
ferent pages should be drawn up and the 
large corner spaces you see should all be 
4x4 inches in size. On the front page in 
the center space you want printed Official 
Score Card, name of your club, season of 
year, your name as president and manager 
of club. On the back page in the center 
space I would have the schedule of games 
printed; that is, all the games you are to 
play during the season. All told, on the 4 
sides of the card for advertising space you 
would have 20 spaces 4 inches square, and 
4 spaces 4x1^ inches. I Would advise sell- 
ing these 4-inch spaces for $25.00 each 
on a guaranteed circulation of 10,000 
copies. This would give you for the 
20 spaces $500.00, and I would sell the 
spaces at each end of the score space 
for $12.50 each, and these 4 spaces 
at those figures would bring you $50.00 
more, and the total amount for the 
entire card would bring you $550.00. The 
cost of printing such a card in 10,000 lots 
should cost anywhere from $50.00 to $60.00. 
Thus leaving you a net profit in the neigh- 
borhood of $500.00. If, however, you can- 
not succeed in selling spaces at $25.00 I 
would divide them in two and sell half for 
$12.50, or a quarter space for $6.25, but I 
would figure on realizing at the rate of 
$25.00 for the 4-inch spaces; this, however 
is optional to you. You can sell them 
cheaper if you desire. In a city of 40,000 
or 50,000 population the score card could 
be doubled in size, thus having 8 pages in 
all instead of 4 pages, but you only want 2 
spaces for the score space just the same, as 
above, remember, and these 2 score spaces 
should be the two center pages on the 
card. All the other six pages should have 
six spaces 4x4 inches in size, the same 
as on the front page of the above diagram. 
By selling your spaces (4x4 inches) on a 
card of 8 pages at $25.00, also the end 
98 



spaces, you would realize $1,100.00 from the 
advertisements. I have filled an 8-page 
score card, the size of the above mentioned 
in a city of 45,000 population at the time, 
and after the price of printing was deducted 
I realized a clear profit of about $1,000.00. 
I sold some (4x4) spaces at $30.00; some 
at $25.00, and split some of them for $12.50. 
I paid for the printing of 10,000 8-page score 
cards, and they were wired together good 
and strong, too. I paid $100.00 cash for 
printing them, so you can see the profit 
there is in score card advertising in some 
cities. 

In an ordinary town of 10,000 to 30,000 
population you should be able to fill a 4- 
page score card easily. The larger the 
town the more advertisements you can se- 
cure; this you will have to use your own 
judgment on, and go accordingly. The mer- 
chants advertise more readily on this class 
of advertising in some cities than others, 
and the price of printing will be a little 
higher in some places than others. When 
you get ready to solicit your advertise- 
ments go to the printers and get estimates 
on the work of printing the cards in 10,000 
lots (always go to a Union printer and 
have the Union Label on the card), in fact 
have nothing but union labor at all times. 
When you have arranged with the printer to 
do the work have a neat dummy drawn 
up. The printer will cut a sheet the size 
of your card and advise you as to this. 
Solicit your advertisements with the under- 
standing that they are payable upon pub- 
lication of the card, or just prior to your 
first game of ball, the same as your season 
tickets. Do not have the cards printed un- 
til you have collected the money, but have 
the printer set the form up and run off, say, 
100 cards so as you can go around and give 
one to each party that took the advertise- 
ment, and collect if satisfactory to him. If 
you run the cards all off first there may be 

99 



some merchants mean enough not to give 
you a cent as they will think they have got 
something for nothing. Others will keep 
you running after your money half the 
summer. Make them pay up before you 
print them unless you see that a man is 
on the level and wants a week or even a 
month's time to pay. You will have to use 
your own judgment and take a chance 
with him, in this case. If you find that 
you are not qualified to solicit advertise- 
ments, I would advise you to secure the 
services of a good advertising man to do 
the work for you on a commission basis. 
Pay him 25 per cent, of what he brings in 
to you the same as I have outlined in one 
of the previous chapters under season tick- 
ets. 

If you secure a capable man he will hus- 
tle these advertisements out for you in 
jig time. You can sell these score cards 
at the games at five cents each. The cost 
of setting the battin^ order up should be 
$1.00 each time, or for each game played. 

You can arrange with your printer to do 
this. You can hire boys to sell score cards 
at the games for one cent each, leaving 
you a profit of 4 cents on each card not 
counting the cost of setting up the batting 
order. Therefore 10,000 cards at 4 cents 
each would give you a profit of $400.00, 
and we will figure that you play 50 home 
games you will have to have the batting or- 
der set up 50 times, at a cost of $1.00 each 
time. The total cost would be $50.00. 
This amount deducted from the $400.00 
would leave you a net profit of $350.00 for 
the sale of your score cards alone, so you 
can readily see the profit there is on the 
score card proposition. In cities of over 
50,000 population I would advise getting a 
score card up in book form, the same as 
you will see at the ball parks for sale in 
the larger cities. These books are usually 
6x9 inches in size, and the price of adver- 
100 



tising would go anywhere from $25.00 to 
$100.00 a paee for the season according to 
the size of city, and circulation of books is- 
sued. The larger the circulation the higher 
the price per page for advertisements. 
These advertisements in such cities are 
sold in various ways. Sometimes are sold 
for the series of games only. That is while 
the home club is playing at home a series 
of games with another club. Sometimes 
they are sold by the week or month, and 
sometimes sold by the inch space for a 
given length of time, in fact they are 
worked in various ways. The club owners 
in large cities usually sell the advertising 
privilege outright to the highest reliable 
bidaer for so much cash for the season. 
This relieves the club owners of any further 
trouble with the score card, but I would 
not advise doing this in cities of 50,000 pop- 
ulation or less, for you can solicit your 
own advertisements and realize far more in 
this way and you also have the profit of the 
sales at the games also. A business man 
will most always assist you for the benefit 
of the baseball club, and when you are 
soliciting advertisements for the benefit of 
the club you have something back of you 
to work on. It is not as if you were going 
around with some little 2x4 advertising 
scheme. If you hustle around and keep 
pegging away, you will not have a great 
deal of trouble in getting advertisements, 
but at the same time it will depend largely 
upon your ability as an advertising sales- 
man, as to the amount of money you can 
raise. However, if you cannot succeed, 
why hire the work done by a competent 
advertising man on the percentage basis as 
mentioned above and I am sure that you 
will be satisfied with the results. 



101 



CHAPTER XVII. 



HOW TO RAISE MONEY BY ENTER- 
TAINMENTS, SUCH AS MINSTREL 
SHOWS, LOCAL TALENT PLAYS, 
DANCES AND PRIZE CONTESTS. 

When you are promoting a baseball club 
in the smaller cities you should avail your- 
self of every opportunity possible in order 
to raise as many funds as you can for the 
financial success of the club. During the 
months say, part of February, and the 
month of March and part of April, you 
will have sufficient time to put these en- 
tertainments on and realize a tidy sum for 
a starter that will pav you well for the 
amount of work attached to it. I would 
make it an appoint to put on one good min- 
strel show for two nights in succession in 
preference to any other entertainment, and 
the best way to do this is to secure the ser- 
vices of some good man that has had the 
actual experience in the line of handling 
such an entertainment, and one who makes 
this his business, and thoroughly under- 
stands what he is doing. I would arrange 
with him to take full charge of the affair, 
and I would give him a percentage of the 
receipts after deducting all of the expenses 
first. You should pay such 'a man for his 
services anywhere from 40 to 50 per cent, 
and not over 50 per cent, of the net earn- 
ings for his work, but try and get him for 
40 per cent., but they usually will want 
half. I have known cases where the party 
that put the entertainment on would get 
50 per cent, before the expenses were taken 
out, but do not let them fool you, or work 
you in this way. Never pay them over 50 
per cent, after the expenses are deducted 
first. Some of these fellows will try and 
work you and want it all. You can get 
good men to work on the even basis propo- 
102 



sition with you. The party whoever you 
arrange to take charge of the entertain- 
ment can give you full details of the affair 
and attend to all the work himself for you, 
but where you divide the net profits I 
would advise for you to help out wherever 
you can, and where he is working on the 
percentage basis it will be for his interest 
as well as your own to curtail expenses as 
much as possible. You can make arrange- 
ments and engage the opera house 
and be sure and engage same as cheap 
as possible. You can also assist in 
getting out the program, and all other 
work that will come up from time to 
time. The advertisements you solicit 
for your program should net you $100.00 
or more alone for the two nights. 
You should sell advertisements for $2.00 a 
space of 3 inches square, and sell half that 
space for $1.00. I would use a copy of any 
good program used for such an entertain- 
ment, and arrange your program to be large 
enough to accommodate at least 75 spaces, 
3 inches square, for $2.00 advertisements, 
and work this according to the size of the 
city vou are in. Your share of the receipts 
should run any where from $150.00 to 
$500.00 for the two nights. This would be 
according to the size of the city of course, 
and also as to whether you had available 
weather. A drama could be put on and, 
no doubt, create a bi^ sensation, providing 
the right man had charge of such an enter- 
tainment, but I do not think it would prove 
to be any better money maker in the end 
than the minstrel show on account of the 
heavy expenses attached to it. In case you 
should decide to put on a drama in prefer- 
ence to the minstrel show, you must make 
it an appoint to secure the services of a 
polished man of experience, and especially 
one who understands his business thor- 
oughly, and I must add particularly a 
stranger of good appearance. Sometimes 
103 



a good local man can be secured to help 
you put on your show, whether it be a min- 
strel or a drama, but I strongly advise se- 
curing a stranger in preference to the local 
man. However you may do as you choose 
in regard to this, but I am sure if you se- 
cure the services of a capable man you 
will be satisfied with your returns, and let 
me express again most emphatically, never 
pay any one over 50 per cent, of the net 
profits for his work. Dances sometimes 
bring in fairly good returns, but I person- 
ally do not favor dances for the financial re- 
sults. I think they have a tendency to 
cheapen the affair. But if you decide to 
put on a series of dances I would suggest 
to put on say, one a week for six or eight 
weeks prior to the opening of the ball 
season. I would rent the most available 
hall for such a purpose, engage an inexpen- 
sive orchestra, and advertise and boom it 
quite extensively. You can put tickets on 
sale at various places. If you are located in 
a citv that the people take kindly to danc- 
ing, you may pick up some money _ by this 
method, but it will not be anything like 
other methods of raising money. 

A prize contest, I think, is a corking good 
method of raising funds. This is done by 
the sale of tickets, and I will endeavor to 
explain this method as fully as possible. 
First, I would purchase some nice present 
suitable for a young lady not to cost less 
than $50.00, and I would get the consent of 
some popular merchant to place this pres- 
ent in his window for exhibition. I would 
also advertise strongly in the local papers 
that you are going to give this present 
away free to the most popular young lady 
selling the most number of tickets to your 
opening game. Get one thousand tickets 
printed and have them sold at 25 cents each. 
Find out who some of the popular young 
ladies of the city are, and especially those 
interested in baseball. Call on these young 
104 



ladies and see if you cannot interest them 
to enter the contest. When you have four 
or five that sanction their willingness to do 
so, then go to the local newspapers and 
tell them what you intend to do for the 
benefit of the baseball club. The papers, no 
doubt, will be only too glad to run this 
contest for you and should boost it in good 
shape for it is good advertising for the 
papers. You can also announce in the 
papers that you would like to hear from 
other young ladies willing to enter the con- 
test. In this way you will find plenty of 
young ladies eager to try for the $50.00 
present. 

I would give each contestant fifty tickets 
at the start and when those are sold you 
can hand them more as fast as they sell 
them, and as they begin to sell and hand 
in to you their returns, go to the newspaper 
and have their number published from day 
to day. The newspaper people will un- 
derstand the form to set up for such a 
contest and will also know how to boost 
it along, and, no doubt, you have seen 
similar contests in other papers (but not 
baseball contests) and the newspaper men 
can assist you and, no doubt, make many 
good suggestions on account of your 
contest being for the benefit of the baseball 
club. 

The returns should be published daily 
and after a while this will create quite an 
interest. Use no favoritism and never 
have published the number of tickets a 
young lady has sold until she has turned 
over the money to you for the number of 
tickets sold. And you must keep a correct 
check on each one separately. Some 
young ladies may have others selling for 
her. This is all right of course, as long 
as she, personally turns over the sales to 
you. With the newspapers boosting and 
different parties selling in order to push 

105 



their friend to the front you will find great 
interest will be taken in this contest. 

I would advise starting this contest 
about four or five weeks prior to your 
opening exhibition game and do not run 
the contest more than four weeks. I would 
arrange to have the present given to the 
winner of the contest at the first opening 
exhibition game, and try and arrange with 
the mayor to present the present to the young 
lady winning the contest, at this opening game. 
This would have an attendency to draw a good 
crowd and see the first appearance of the 
ball club. Those who purchased the tickets 
from the young ladies must be entitled to 
admission to this game only, and instruct them 
to sell the tickets for this game only. 

You will note that I say first exhibition 
game. The reason for this is because it 
will prove to be a good money maker. 
You can engage some nearby club to play 
this game at a small guarantee and do not 
by any means give a percentage of your 
tickets to them. If you are playing 
independent ball make it the first game 
also with a small guarantee to the visiting 
club with no percentage of gate receipts. If 
you are playing league ball and run this 
off at your first league game the visiting 
club will expect the league percentage of 
your tickets coming in at the gate and you 
will be simply throwing away your good 
money to some other club. 

If however the league games are played 
on a straight guarantee with no percentage 
of receipts to the visiting club you can 
have this run off at your first league game 
if you choose. 

The girls should sell one thousand tickets 
at twenty-five cents each for you by this 
method easily. 

This would give you $250.00, deducting 

the $50.00, the price of the present, you 

would have a clear profit of $200.00 and 

should the girls succeed in selling two thou- 

106 



sand tickets you would have a clear profit 
of $450.00 after paying for the present. 

Now just a word. Do not go and buy 
some little cheap affair and pay five or ten 
dollars for it, thinking perhaps that you 
will make more out of it. Be sure and get 
something nice so as every young lady will 
want it, and appreciate it, and also get the 
people interested in working for you. I 
would advise starting this contest imme- 
diately after the entertainment you have put 
on, as previously mentioned in this chapter. 

You should have sufficient money from 
the net eanings of your entertainment to 
purchase a nice present. 

Have the entertainment as early as you 
can after locating in the city. With the 
prize contest your only expense will be the 
cost of your present, and the printing of 
your tickets, and I would advise that you 
have only your entertainment and this prize 
contest for means of raising funds for the 
support of the ball club aside from sale of 
tickets and advertising and I sincerely 
believe that if a man will interest himself 
properly and attend strictly to business, 
and if he is located in a city any where from 
10,000 to 30,000 population he should rea- 
lize good money from receipts of the en- 
tertainment and prize contest, and your 
time will be well occuoied together with 
selling your season tickets and advertis- 
ments. 



107 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



HOW TO ADVERTISE BASEBALL 
GAMES IN ORDER TO DRAW THE 
BEST CROWDS— THE KIND OF 
TICKETS AND RAIN CHECKS TO 
USE— PRICES TO CHARGE, ETC. 

In the baseball business you cannot advertise 
your games too strongly. Advertise contin- 
ually but at the same time advertise judicially. 
Make every cent that you put into your adver- 
tising count. Managers have different methods 
of advertising games aside from the newspa- 
per boosting which is gratis to you and also 
considered the strongest form of advertising 
the games. 

I have made a careful study of this form of 
advertising and have found during my own 
experience that the best method to pursue for 
economical advertising, and at the same time 
a method which has proved to be a grand suc- 
cess with me, and these methods of advertis- 
ing will apply to cities and towns ranging any- 
where from 5,000 to 50,000 population. The 
methods are as follows : If you can make 
satisfactory arrangements with the city officials, 
but I want to caution you that in some places 
there is a city ordinance prohibiting this meth- 
od, you can find out if it is prohibited or not. 
In. most places it is not prohibited. I 
would have a large banner painted and hung 
across the main street or the principal thor- 
oughfare of the town near a prominent corn- 
er where every one can get a good view of 
it for several blocks away. Have this banner 
made out of good strong white canvas and 
neatly lettered in black and red and worded as 
follows : Baseball today, with the name of 
your club vs. the club you are playing that 
day, name of park where game is to be play- 
ed, and time of game — 3 :30 for instance. 
Have the painter block the letters out as large 
as possible and especially the word baseball 

108 



should stand out prominently. The place where 
the visiting club is painted on the banner, and 
when another club is to play you can have an 
extra strip of canvas painted with the name 
of the club on it and simply pin it over this 
space, and do so for each club appearing. Be 
sure and have this sign hung out every day 
that you have a game at home. If you are 
located in a city of 40,000 or 50,000 popula- 
tion you can have a couple of these signs 
made and hung across two of the principal 
streets. They will pay for their cost many 
times over, and I consider this a great method 
of advertising ball games, but be sure and 
have them made large. Don't have a little 
piece of cloth 3 x 12 that the wind will keep 
curled up half the time and no one can tell 
what it is. Have a large sign painted 10 or 
12 feet square, one that the people can see 
for a quarter of a mile away. The public will 
soon get educated to the fact that when they 
see the big sign out there is to be a ball game, 
and it will also attract the attention of strang- 
ers in the city and you will catch many of them 
that you would not get without this sign. 
Everything considered for the money invested 
this is the cheapest and best form of adver- 
tising you can put out to get results and draw 
the people, and some clubs have nothing else 
to advertise their games aside from the news- 
paper boosting they get. You can also have 
two or more small signs painted. These signs 
should be three feet square and simply word- 
ed : Baseball today, 3 :30 P. M., painted in 
black on a white cloth and tacked to a wooden 
frame, and made so as boys can carry them. 
On days of games have the boys carry these 
signs around town from about 10 :30 to 3 :30 
o'clock in the afternoon, paying them some- 
thing reasonable for their work. These signs 
together with the big sign are mighty con- 
venient on days of threatening rain, or rainy 
days that should clear up about noon or short- 
ly after. In case of rain and you should decide 
to play you could get the big sign out, also the 
109 



small signs and have the boys hustle them 
about town and the people will see them and 
know for certain there is to be a game and 
you will get the people in this way where if 
you did not have the signs out the people 
would not know whether you intended to 
play or not. 

Never fool the public, always pull off the 
garrfe if possible and this sign advertising is 
the best of all. Another good method of ad- 
vertising the games is on a 4 or 6 ply rail- 
road card board cut 11 x 14 inches in size, 
and I would have printed any where from 200 
to 400 of these for each series of games ac- 
cording to the size of the city. This number 
will be sufficient to distribute in the principal 
store windows, hotels, clubs, etc. I would 
also advertise each series of games in this way 
and each series I would have a different 
color of card board as long as the colors 
last, and you can also have a different color 
of ink from time to time. Your printer should 
be able to get up an attractive card for you. 
I would have printed on these the following : 
Baseball, name of your club vs. name of visit- 
ing club, the date, name of park where played, 
time of game, price of general admission, 
grand stand admission, children's admission, 
umpire's name. The above form is sufficient, 
hut you can add a small notice on the bottom 
if you wish, merely speaking of the rivalry 
of the clubs playing, or the good points of the 
visiting club, or your latest addition of new 
players, etc., or any thing interesting that may 
attract attention. These cards will not tumble 
down if put up properly and they are at- 
tractive,' and you will notice that many of 
the large theatrical companies are using 
this form of window-advertising, conse- 
quently it must be a good one. 

Three-thirty in the afternoon is a conven- 
ient time to start the games in small cities and 
4 o'clock in the larger ones. I would make the 
price twenty-five cents general admission to 
everyone except children, and charge them 
110 



ten cents, season ticket holders admitted on 
their tickets of course. If you are in a small 
city of less than 15,000 population I would 
charge ten cents to the grand stand, and in 
a city from 15,000 to 30,000 population I 
would charge fifteen cents to the grand stand, 
and a city from 30,000 population up I would 
charge twenty-five cents to the grand stand, 
not including the box seats. This, of course, 
applies to minor league cities, nothing larger. 
If you were located in a city that the ladies 
did not attend the games I would try and 
make some inducement to get them to come 
out ; such as admitting them to the grand 
stand free and also admitting them to the 
games one day a week free, and I would make 
this free day on a Friday when the club is 
playing at home. When the ladies do attend 
the games strongly I would charge them the 
same price as gentlemen at the gate and grand 
stand. In larger cities where you have a 
park as I described in one of the previous 
chapters of this book you could charge twenty- 
five cents to the center section of the grand 
stand and fifteen cents to each side section 
if you choose. This is optional to you, of 
course. Getting back to advertising I wish to 
state that where you are permitted to do it 
a corking good method of advertising the 
games is chalking the side walks. You can 
have your all-around man or helper do this 
work. Give men a small pail of whiting, mix 
it in water and take a medium sized paint 
brush, and paint the following on all the 
principal street corners where you can: Base- 
ball todav, vou club vs. visiting club, 3:30 
P. M. 

In some places there is a city ordinance 
prohibiting the chalking of sidewalks, but 
in the smaller cities it is not always allowed. 
This is a grand form of advertising the games 
as all who pass can see the sign. A polite 
way to do is to merely step inside the store 
where you intend to paint the sign and ask 
the merchant if he has any objections if you 
111 



paint a small baseball advertisement on the 
walk. By doing this it will create a good 
impression and the chances are you will not 
get turned down. 

Another good method of advertising is to 
have signs hung on the front of all the 
street cars. Have the sign painted as large 
as possible and you can arrange with the 
superintendent of the street railway company 
for this. Have the signs to read as follows : 
Baseball today, name of park where played, 
3 :30 P. M. The street car company should 
go to the expense of having these signs made 
for you. 

The above five methods are considered 
cracker-jack methods for advertising ball 
games, and along with your newspaper boost- 
ing, will be sufficient advertising in any town 
of 100,000 population or less and should 
draw the crowds if there is any baseball life 
in the town at all, and at the same time it 
is not an expensive method of advertising, 
and I would advise you to follow these 
methods. You can also carry a small space 
in the daily newspapers for each series of 
games if you wish. By doing so it will keep 
the newspaper men feeling good natured for 
the free boosting you are getting. For any 
special occasion you can carry an extra space 
for a couple of issues. 

There has been several forms of baseball 
tickets in use and managers have figured 
and planned on which is the best form to 
use to avoid fraud at the gates, and one 
could point out the good and bad qualities 
of all and I could also write many tiresome 
pages on this subject, but everything consider- 
ed and as I have already mentioned in one of 
the previous chapters, that you must make 
it a point to watch the gate yourself while 
the tickets are sold and see what is going 
on. I would advise using the old fashioned, 
water-proof card board ticket for gate and 
grand stand admissions in any city of 50,000 
population or less. These tickets are easy to 
112 



handle, and you, no doubt, have noticed that 
the large shows like Barnum and Ringling 
Bros., use this form of ticket. If they were 
not considered the proper things these shows 
would not use them, and probably there are 
more people pass their gates in one season 
than all the people that pass the gates of the 
entire National League games Tor a season. 
Consequently I would advise using the straight 
water-proof card board ticket, made in a 
convenient size to handle. 

The Globe Ticket Company, of Philadelphia, 
Pa., can get out a nice ticket for you. Your 
local printer can do this also. These tickets 
are not expensive and will last the entire 
season. A good many clubs use the race 
tickets, same as you have seen at the nickel 
theatres. One disadvantage with these tick- 
ets I find they are too small, and again there 
are so many similiar tickets in use, that a 
gate man is liable to take a 5 cent theatre 
ticket of the same color in place of the base- 
ball ticket at the gate if he does not keep his 
eyes open These roll tickets are numbered 
and are easy to check up after the game, that 
is the only redeeming feature of the ticket 
in my opinion. The card board ticket has 
to be counted, but it does not take a man long 
to count one thousand tickets, and I personally 
prefer the card board ticket, besides they are 
much cheaper and a much nicer looking ticket. 
It will be necessary for you to issue three 
forms of tickets printed on three different 
colored card board and the wording on the 
tickets should be as follows. You can arrange 
the price of admission to suit yourself and the 
printer will set the form up so as to make 
the ticket attractive. Here are the three forms 
to have printed on the tickets : 

Name of your club. 

Season of 

(date of year) 

Grand stand ticket, Admission 15c. 
Admit one. 

Your name as president of club. 
113 



Name of your club. 

Season of 

(date of year) 

Gate ticket, Admission 25c. 
Admit one. 

Your name as president of club. 

Name of your club. 

Season of 

(date of year) 

Children's ticket, Admission 10c. 
Admit one. 

Your name as president of club. 
Rain checks you must have to protect your- 
self, and be sure and get these out for every 
game. Some clubs sell a ticket with rain 
check attached. These are usually printed on 
a good two ply paper about 4 or 6 inches 
long and an inch wide. When you enter the 
gate the gate keeper tears off the admission 
ticket, which is perforated, making it easy 
to tear off and gives the rain check or stub to 
you, the same as at a theatre. The gate 
keeper holds the other half of the tickets, 
so as he can check up and see how many ad- 
missions have passed liim. In large cities 
they have the turnstiles to tell the number of 
people that pass the gates. You can procure a 
rain check from any of the large baseball 
clubs in order to get an idea of what you 
want, but you will find that they have an ad- 
vertisement on the back and about the same 
wording as the form of rain check I will 
mention later in this chapter. I have found 
during my own experience and I sincerely 
believe that using the water-proof card board 
ticket and a separate rain check would be the 
best method to follow in cities of 50,000 popu- 
lation or less. I always go to some merchant 
that advertises extensively and give him the 
right to place his advertisement on the back 
of the rain check, providing that he will furn- 
ish what rain checks I want free of charge. 
By so doing your rain checks cost you noth- 
ing and at the same time it is good adver- 
tising for the merchant. His advertisement 
114 



will appear on one side and you will want 
printed on your side the following: 
Form for Rain Check. 
Name of your club. 

Season of 

(date of year) 

Rain check. Gate or grand stand. 
Number of game played. If 4 1-2 innings 
have been played this rain check is void. If 
4 1-2 innings have not been played this rain 
check is good for the next home game only. 
Your name signed as president of club. 

You will notice that in the above form I 
mention number of game. You must have 
the rain check numbered according to the game 
played. For instance, if you are playing your 
third game of ball you want your rain checks 
marked No. 3. If it's your 20th game of 
ball you want your rain checks marked No. 20, 
in large figures and so on up. Have a suf- 
ficient number of rain checks printed for each 
game, so as to give one to each person that 
passes the gate or grand stand, and if the 
party buys a grand stand ticket you want 
your rain checks marked grand stand for 
those who go in the grand stand. You can 
have • boys stand just inside the gate and 
grand stand and hand them out. Some base- 
ball clubs issue a rain check stating if three 
full innings have been played this rain check 
is void, but if you do this I would advise you. 
to have a sign or notice printed and posted 
up just outside the ticket office to this effect, 
where every one can see it and in case your 
game should be stopped at the end of the 
third inning the patrons would have no kick 
coming about the rain checks. You should 
also have a ' sign painted that no gambling 
shall be allowed on these grounds, and also a 
sign that no profanity allowed on these 
grounds and enforce these rules. I think if 
you follow the ticket and rain check proposi- 
tion as outlined above you will find them en- 
tirely satisfactory. 

115 



CHAPTER XIX. 



HOW TO BUILD A SCORE BOARD 
THAT IS A MONEY MAKER AND 
ATTRACTIVE. 

No doubt you have been in attendance at 
some of the baseball games in the smaller 
towns and cities, and while you were sitting 
in the grand stand you have noticed a boy 
marking up the score of the game over back 
of not being able to see the figures plainly, 
kept on a little board about 3x6 and very 
often clubs in good leagues do not have a much 
larger score board than this, consequently the 
patrons of the game are disgusted on account 
of not being able to see the figues plainly. 
Now why not have a good sized score board, 
one that everybody can see plainly from the 
stands and bleachers, and also one that will 
be a money maker as well. I will endeavor to 
map out in as brief as possible an ideal score 
board and also give a diagram of same. This 
board can be used in any small city of 75,000 
or less and at the same time considerable 
money can be realized from the sale of ad- 
vertisements on this board. I have used this 
same size board to a great advantage. 

The board should be placed in the most con- 
spicuous place on the field, either back of first 
or third bases, which ever would be the most 
convenient place for the patrons to see plainly 
and it should also be placed in such a position 
as not to interfere with the players fielding 
the ball during the game. This board should 
be built so as to rest 7 feet above the ground, 
that is the lower edge should be that high 

116 



from the ground and run up 12 feet and rest 
on strong 4 x 4s, 12 feet apart and properly 
braced. The exact surface space of the board 
should be 48 feet long and 12 feet high. 
Draw a line directly through the center of 
the board lengthwise and divide the spaces 
above this line equally into 6 feet square 
spaces. You would have 8 equal spaces 6 
feet square above the centre line straight 
across the board, below the center line mark 
out two spaces 6 feet square in the lower right 
hand corner, and also in the lower left hand 
corner. All told this would give you 12 
spaces 6 feet square on the board as you will 
see by the diagram. In the bottom center 
you will have left 4 spaces 6 feet square, 
draw a line directly through the center of these 
4 spaces lengthwise, and below this line you 
wll have two more spaces for advertisements, 
each 3 feet high by 12 feet long. All told you 
will have 14 spaces for advertisements as 
shown by diagram. In the center of the 
board the score space should be drawn, thus 
giving the spaces around the score space for 
the advertisements. The score spaces would 
be 24 feet long and 3 feet high, this should 
be divided into 3 equal divisions 24 feet long 
and one foot high running lengthwise across 
the center of the board. The first 6 feet 
beginning on the left hand side should be 
utilized with the word "innings" on the top. 
The name of your club in the second space 
and the word "visitors" in the bottom space. 
The remaining 18 feet across the board should 
be divided equally into one foot squares mak- 
ing in all 18 squares after each of the words 
innings, name of your club and also visitors, 
straight across the board after the word 
innings. These spaces should be numbered from 
one to eighteen and the spaces below the 
numbers should be left blank to place the score 
of the game of the home club and also the 
visiting club. Nine spaces will be all that 
is required unless the game should go more 
than the nine full innings. Here is the dia- 
117 



gram of the board so as to give you the cor- 
rect idea : 



48 feet 



The score space in the center should be 
marked off as shown above. You will notice 
I used the word New York for the home 
club. Where ever you are located use the 
name of your club in this space and visitors 
underneath as shown above. This board 
should rest on 4 x 4s, 12 feet apart and be of 
a height at least 7 feet from the ground. 

You can use whiting to paint in the score, 
simply wet the whiting and paint it on with 
a brush. Always making a good large plain 
figure. The advertising spaces 6 feet square 
should be sold for twenty-five dollars each 
and the 14 spaces at those figures would bring 
you three hundred fifty dollars. This board 
could be built out of No. 2 pine and hemlock 
posts, and should not exceed in cost fifty dol- 
lars. I have built this same size board for 
forty dollars. Boards twelve feet long and a 
foot wide should be used, planed smoothly on 
the front side and a strong wide board cleat 
should be nailed on the back between the 
posts so as to hold the boards in place. The 
boards must be nailed tightly together and 
properly braced in the back and made good 
and strong. The cost of painting this board, 
including the priming coat and one coat work 
afterward with fancy back ground for each, 
advertisement, also nice neat block letters 
should not exceed fifty dollars. Allowing one 



118 



hundred dollars for the board complete you 
would have a clear profit of two hundred 
fifty dollars. I have built this same size 
board complete in first-class workmanship for 
eighty dollars. I would advise selling exclu- 
sive rights on this board thus getting a higher 
price for the space and the merchants will take 
the ads. more readily if they know that their 
advertisement is the only one of its kind 
to be on the board. What I mean by exclusive 
right only, have one druggist, one clothier, 
one hatter, one hardware, one furniture store, 
one department store, etc. If you did not 
feel disposed to build such a large board you 
could cut it short 12 feet taking off two ad- 
vertisements on each end and making 10 ad- 
vertisements instead of 14. This board when 
completed and neatly painted will be one of 
the best and neatest score boards to be seen 
on any small baseball park. 



119 



CHAPTER XX. 



THE AMOUNT OF MONEY A GOOD 
SOLICITOR SHOULD RAISE IN 
A CITY OF 10,000, 25,000 OR 50,000 
POPULATION. 

A man of ordinary business ability, that 
is a man who has had experience in solicit- 
ing advertisements, and also a man who is 
capable of approaching a business man in 
a business-like manner should get along 
nicely in raising funds for a baseball club, 
and I will endeavor to give you a conserva- 
tive estimate of what such a man should 
do. This, however, depends greatly on the 
baseball merits of the city, for in some 
places you will find that the business men 
will subscribe much more liberally than 
in others, consequently it would be a rather 
difficult proposition to state the exact 
amount a man should raise in any city ow- 
ing to various conditions, but I will give a 
conservative estimate of what a good man 
should do in a good town where the people 
would want baseball. I would say that 
such a man should raise, that is including 
all funds from entertainments of every kind, 
prize contests, all forms of advertising, sea- 
son tickets, etc., as previously mentioned 
in this book. In a city from ten thousand 
to twenty-five thousand population any- 
where from $1,000.00 to $2,500.00, and 
in a city of 25,000 to 50,000 population 
he should raise anywhere from $1,500.00 
to $3,500.00. This of course will rest with 
you as to your ability to raise money on 
the different propositions, but if you find 
that you are lacking in ability you must se- 
cure the services of some good man to 
work for you as I have already mentioned 
in previous chapters. If a man works faith- 
fully, and has the ability, I am confident 
he can do all that is mentioned in this chap- 
ter. 

120 



CHAPTER XXI. 



HOW TO PLAN EXHIBITION GAMES. 
HOW TO MAKE THE MOST MON- 
EY FROM THEM. 

Exhibition games, particularly in a new 
league or with a new independent club, al- 
ways prove to be good money makers, pro- 
viding you. display good judgment in giving 
guarantees and also in arranging the dates 
of games. This, of course, applies to avail- 
able weather. I would advise having the 
exhibition games extend for a period of 
eighteen days, that is the players report for 
work or practice games during the eighteen 
day trial season. Those who make good 
are placed on the salary list and retained 
on the club after that time expires. Dur- 
ing the eighteen day trial season you would 
merely have to pay for the players' board. 
This is a customary method that goes with 
baseball clubs. I would advise having the 
players provided for in a suitable hotel 
where the cost of board would not exceed 
from five to seven dollars a week. Some- 
times in the smaller cities you can arrange 
with one or two good boarding houses to 
accommodate the players at a rate of about 
$4.50 per week, providing you are unable 
to secure reasonable rates from the hotels. 
You will find it to your financial advantage 
to have the players taken care of as cheap 
as possible but at the same time have them 
located in a suitable place< Never put 
them in a place where you would be asham- 
ed to stop yourself. 

I would always have the players report 
either on a Thursday or Friday and your 
first exhibition game should be played on 
a Saturday. If they report Thursday it 
will give them Friday to work out, and 
the eighteen day exhibition or trial season 
should begin on a Thursday, by so doing 
it would give you three Saturdays and three 
121. 



Sundays before the salaries would begin, 
and I would not have at any time over 
twelve or fourteen players on my list for 
trial in a small league or independent club. 
A large string of players hanging around 
is expensive and will eat up money mighty 
fast. Many minor league managers make 
the great mistake by carrying too much 
dead wood, and do not figure carefully 
enough in order to curtail expenses for 
their club . owners. Some managers do 
not care what the expense is as long 
as they draw their own salary. Four- 
teen players' board at the rate of five dol- 
lars a week would amount to seventy dol- 
lars for the week. Twelve players' board 
at • five dollars a week would amount to 
sixty dollars for the week. I would not 
have over twelve men on the list at any 
time. As fast as I saw that a man was not 
making good I would release him and have 
one in his place. By working in this way 
you should have a good club together by 
the expiration of the eighteen day exhibi- 
tion season. This of course applies to a 
small league or independent club. If you 
are located in a good Saturday or Sunday 
town that will turn out good crowds, and 
if you are fortunate enough to have good 
weather, these three Saturday and three 
Sunday games should prove to be good 
money makers. I would advise playing 
Saturdays and Sundays, and only one mid- 
week day game at home during the exhibi- 
tion season. The mid-week day game 
should be either on a Wednesday or Thurs- 
day which ever day would be the better for 
you. 

If you do not play Sunday ball at home 
try and arrange Sunday games away from 
home with some of the towns playing Sun- 
day ball in your league. If there are no 
towns playing Sunday ball in your league 
try and arrange games with nearby clubs 
that do play Sunday games, outside of 
122 



your league providing such clubs in your 
vicinity are playing independent Sunday 
games. These Sunday games would help 
considerable. If you have a good Saturday 
town be sure and play every Saturday at 
home. If you have either a good Saturday 
or a good Sunday town that will turn out 
good crowds try and book as good attrac- 
tions as possible and as cheap as possible. 
I would advise giving them a straight 
guarantee anywhere from forty to seventy- 
five dollars with no privilege of the gate 
receipts. Here is where you make the 
money. If you give half away that comes 
in at your gate the less money you will have 
for yourself. Consequently you will lose 
a lot of money if you followed that method 
as figures will show. I would not give half 
of my receipts to any club unless it was 
to a National or American League club, pro- 
viding I played them exhibition games dur- 
ing the summer. You would be justified in 
giving these clubs half for they would be 
a great attraction and drawing card for you. 
Your first exhibition game of the season 
you should advertise well and get a club 
that you are sure to defeat. If you can 
get some nearby college team cheap and 
also well known to your city the chances 
are you will get a good crowd to this game 
on account of it being your first game, and 
the people will be anxious to see the first 
appearance of your club. College clubs 
usually draw well in exhibition games in 
small cities. I would try and book as 
many games away from home as possible on 
the days that you are not playing at home. 
Now just a few figures so as to give you 
an idea. We will figure that you are lo- 
cated in a good Saturday or Sunday town 
and have three good exhibition games at 
home during the trial season, and. we will 
figure that your entire receipts, both gate 
and grand stand, amount in round figures 
to $400.00 each game. The three games 

123 



alone would give you $1,200.00. If you 
paid the visiting club a guarantee of $75.00 
which is a sufficient guarantee, and you 
can get clubs for $50.00, you would pay 
out in the three games $225.00, thus leav- 
ing you after the guarantees had been paid 
$975.00 for your share of the receipts. Now 
suppose some manager works you for one- 
half of your receipts you would give up 
$600.00, good money for the three games 
alone or one-half of the $1,200.00, thus 
losing $375.00 more than you would if you 
had booked the games on a straight $75.00 
guarantee, or in other words you would 
have made $375.00 for yourself if you gave 
the $75.00 guarantee. Never allow any 
small club manager or especially traveling 
club manager to work you for half your 
gate receipts, especially if you have a town 
that is turning out good crowds. You can 
get good clubs suitable for small leagues 
or independent clubs for a guarantee of 
forty or fifty dollars for week days and 
seventy-five dollars for Sunday games. 
There are several traveling clubs that will 
try and tell you that they have the only 
attraction, etc., etc., and will try and book 
games with you and get one-half your gate 
receipts. If you have a good town that 
is turning out good crowds do not by any 
means give half your good money away, if 
you do you are foolishly giving your just 
earnings to some one else. Suppose that 
you have a good Saturday and also a good 
Sunday town playing to good crowds both 
Saturdays and Sundays and the town has 
a population of, say, 50,000 with three ex- 
hibition games on Saturdays and three ex- 
hibition games on Sundays, providing the 
weather was favorable, and that the above 
dates were filled with good clubs on a guar- 
antee of $75.00, just see what a money maker 
it would be, which is the ereat advantage 
of exhibition games prior to the start of 
the league season, and if you were running 
124 



an independent club I would also have an 
eighteen day exhibition period prior to 
when salaries start. By so doing it gives 
you a grand opportunity to make money 
at the start of the season on account of 
not having any salaries to pay. The board 
of the players is the principal outlay and 
the money you make is practically all vel- 
vet to you, therefore you must grasp every 
opportunity to save expenses and not give 
any more out of your gate receipts than is 
absolutely necessary. "A penny saved is 
as good as a penny earned." 

These games are a great advantage to 
vou, especially so in a new league or a new- 
ly organized independent club. In an old 
established league the people, as a rule, 
do not turn out to the exhibition games 
prior to the opening of the league season. 
They prefer to wait until the league season 
opens. This does not apply to all cities. 
Some cities turn out good to the exhibition 
games, but in a newly organized league or 
independent club the games will be just as 
well patronized at first as at any time of 
the year. I have found during my own experi- 
ence, consequently a good money maker for 
you. If you are in a small league or run- 
ning an independent club I would advise 
you to try and book as many National or 
American League clubs as possible to play 
exhibition games with your club after June 
15th. You would probably have to give 
such clubs a good guarantee with the privi- 
lege of fifty per cent, of your receipts. You 
can well afford to give these clubs one-half 
of what comes in. You can charge 50 
cents admission at the gate and 25 cents 
to the grand stand to everybody in most 
any small towns for these exhibition games. 
Suppose that you are located in a city of 
15,000 to 40,000 population and had one 
of these clubs booked and they drew a 
crowd anywhere from 1.800 to 4,000 people 
to the game. We will figure on a crowd 

125 



of 2,500 people, say, at 50 cents. This would 
net you at the gate $1,250.00, not counting 
grand stand receipts. Your share of the 
one-half gate receipts would amount to 
$625.00 and probably $250.00 more for you 
in the grand stand receipts, so you can see 
this is where you would make the money by 
playing these large clubs. I have seen 
a crowd of over 2,000 people paid admis- 
sions attend a game of this kind where the 
Chicago Nationals played an independent 
club in a city of 10,000 people and I pre 
siime these figures have been increased in 
many places where National or American 
League clubs have played exhibition games 
with the local club. The public, in a good 
live ball town, would patronize these games 
liberally for they would be anxious to see 
these clubs play. If you should be lo- 
cated in a city any where from 25,000 to 
75,000 population or more and run an in- 
dependent club and merely played Sundays 
and Holiday games with good attractions 
for your Sunday games you should make 
big money by this method. 

Suppose that you were located near some 
of the large cities where National or Amer- 
ican League clubs did not play Sunday ball 
and you were permitted to play Sunday 
ball in your city, no doubt you could ar- 
range games with these clubs and make a 
handsome profit. Perhaps you might have 
a good town where you are playing inde- 
pendent ball on some direct route where 
some of the National or American League 
clubs would pass through your city in mak- 
ing their jumps from place to place. You 
could, no doubt, arrange with some of them 
to stop off and play in your city if they 
had an open date, but if you had a good 
Sunday town and you were playing inde- 
pendent ball and located so as you could 
grive good attractions and furnish the pub- 
lic with good ball you certainly would have 
a grand money maker. 

126 



CHAPTER XXII. 



HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE OPEN- 
ING GAME, THE ADVERTISING, 
ETC. 

Every precaution should be used in order 
to make the opening game a grand success, 
both financially and otherwise. What I 
mean by the opening game, I mean the 
opening of the regular season, not the ex- 
hibition season. This will apply no matter 
whether you are playing league or inde- 
pendent ball. For this official opening I 
would make a special request to the mer- 
chants to make the occasion a half holiday. 
This can often times be arranged by an ap- 
peal through the local newspapers. No doubt 
you can also arrange with several of the manu- 
facturing concerns to close during the after- 
noon or part of the afternoon' of the date of 
the game. I would also go to each of the 
business men and try and arrange with them 
to hang the American flag out in front of 
their places of business, or what other little 
decorating they may choose to do. This 
of course will add tone to the occasion. 
You can also make such a request through 
the newspapers. Have all your advertis- 
ing matter out in shio shape for this oc- 
casion, as I have previously mentioned in 
one of the chapters. In addition to this 
I would advise securing the services of the 
local band in full uniform for the occasion, 
Be sure and have at least fifteen pieces turn 
out so as to make a good showing. In con- 
nection with this I would have a large auto- 
mobile parade. You can do all this at a 
very little expense. The band should be 
the only cost, and they should be willing 
to come out reasonable. Go to those who 
have automobiles and ask them if .they will 
donate their machine for the parade. Most 
anv liberal and enterprising citizen will, 
gladly do this in order to help things along, 
127 



or you can make some prominent business 
man master of ceremonies for the after- 
noon. Try and get a dyed-in-the-wool 
baseball crank that stands in well with the 
other business men to do this for you. You 
may offer him a season ticket for his kind- 
ness. He will be able to get enough autos 
donated for the occasion. This parade 
should start at some prominent place on 
the main street and go over the principal 
streets of the city for fully half an hour or 
more before going to the ball park and then 
go direct to the ball park, and you should 
see that it is so arranged for the parade 
to start on scheduled time and arrive 
at the park about one half hour before 
the time you have set for the game to 
start. The band should head the parade 
and be stationed in two large automobiles 
driven side by side, or they can go afoot. 
The mayor and some of the other city officials 
should ride in the next auto. Then the two 
managers and club officials of both participa- 
ting ball clubs should come next. Then the 
ball players of each club last. I would not 
have over two players in each auto along with 
the driver of the machine, so as to string the 
parade out as long as possible. By following 
this method you will have an attractive 
parade. When you arrive at the ball park, no 
doubt, the crowd will be practically all there. 
Have the band and the two ball clubs go onto 
the field and go way out to the center field 
fence and march platoon file with the band 
leading the clubs, directly toward the grand 
stand. By keeping a straight line this will 
afford a handsome view to the spectators, 
with the clubs especially in their new uni- 
forms. When the clubs stop in front of the 
grand stand at this time it is advisable to 
have the mayor stand in the center and make 
a brief speech pertaining to baseball and the 
advantages it gives to a city. This can also 
be done just prior to the starting of the 
game. Sometimes the mayor will pitch the 

128 



first ball, especially so if he is a ball crank. 
All this adds fun for the occasion, otherwise 
he can toss the new ball to the umpire, and 
open the game in this way. Simply shout 
"Play Ball." 

Keep the band at the park during the en- 
tire game, and have them play occasionally 
to liven things up. 

I would suggest that you call on the mayor 
at his office at least two weeks before the 
date of your opening game and arrange with 
him to make the speech on this occasion, thus 
giving him ample opportunity to adjust mat- 
ters so as he can be present. Don't wait until 
the last minute to see him for he might have 
some engagement at the time you would want 
him and then you are disappointed. I have 
always found during my own experience that 
the mayors of the different cities are only 
too glad to be on hand for such an occasion. 
Be sure and see that the mayor is provided 
for transportation home in an auto after the 
game. Do not be afraid to extend favors for 
his kindness extended to you. If you run a 
prize contest you can have the prize pre- 
sented at this opening game by the mayor, if 
you choose, but as I previously mentioned 
in one of the former chapters I would not 
think of issuing tickets for a prize contest 
good for this grand opening unless the visit- 
ing club played on a straight guarantee. For 
your exhibition season opening I merely 
would have plenty of advertising matter 
printed, and simply advertise it strongly as 
the grand opening of the exhibition season, 
with the names of the participating clubs, 
etc., but use the five methods of advertising 
the games as I described under chapter of 
advertising. 

For this regular season opening I would 
follow the five methods of advertising also 
and have it put out in ship shape for the oc- 
casion. I would also boost in the newspaper 
for the occasion, and I would also have printed 
about five hundred half sheet posters in bril- 

129 



liant colors and posted wherever you can 
get them up, and worded about as follows : 
Grand opening, baseball season with band 

concert. Mayor will 

(name of mayor 

pitch the first ball. Name of clubs participa- 
ting, name of park where played, date, time of 
game, prices of admission, umpire. This will 
want to be printed in as large a type as pos- 
sible and your printer will be able to get 
up a handsome bill for you ; Be sure and 
have them put up in conspicuous places. I 
would make it a point to follow the above 
instructions as near as possible and if you 
do I am confident that you will get a good 
turn out in anv live town. 



130 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



THE ADVANTAGE OF HOLDING 
MEETINGS EVERY NIGHT WITH 
THE BALL PLAYERS. 

I want to call your attention to the object 
of holding meetings every night with the ball 
players during the first part of the season. 
No doubt if you follow the baseball business 
for a livelihood you will come in contact 
with a good. many ball players who will try 
and make things as uncomfortable for you as 
they possibly can, .and especially so if you 
are a club owner or manager. This class 
of ball player is known as the mischief maker 
or disorganizer to the manager or club owner, 
and of course does not apply to all ball play- 
ers, but you will find these fellows occasion- 
ally. By holding these nightly meetings you 
can get a line on the methods and ways of 
many players, and at this meeting you can 
give them a confidential and heart to heart 
talk in regard to harmony and team play 
on the club and you must have harmony and 
you must insist upon it, and when you find that 
you have in the ranks a mischief maker or 
a disorganizer, the quicker you fire this fel- 
low the better, no matter how good a player 
he may be, for the time has come that 
no matter how good the man is in a small 
league it's a mighty easy proposition to fill 
his place. In order to produce a winning com- 
bination now-a-days you must have intelligent 
and heady players, that is players that work 
with their heads and not with their hands 
and feet, and also players who are not afraid 
of work. I would have the players out to 
the ball park every morning working out for 
two or three hours, weather permitting. Keep 
them practising signals and team work every 
morning until they accomplish the team work 
to perfection even if it requires half the 
season to do it. They might just as well be 

131 



at the ball park as sitting around the hotel 
or some other place. 

I would advise calling meetings every night 
at eight o'clock for at least four or six weeks 
after the regular season begins or even longer 
if necessary. You can hold these meetings 
in your room at the hotel if you are located 
at the hotel. If you are not you must se- 
cure an available place to hold the meetings. 
At this meeting talk over the plays of the 
day. If a player made bad mistakes tell him 
where he was wrong and tell him how such 
and such plays should be made. Talk over 
every thing of team interest that is for the 
welfare of the club. Talk over team play 
and signals at this meeting until every man 
on the team has the signals down pat. Talk 
intelligently to the players and let them under- 
stand from the start that you are the boss, 
and that they must abide by your rulings or 
your playing manager's rulings. Your play- 
ing manager will be able to give the players a 
code of signals to follow. These signals should 
be put down in writing after the team is 
settled or selected, after the exhibition sea- 
son and each player should study them care- 
fully and know what is expected of him at 
all times. These meetings of discussion help 
to keep the players together every night. Af- 
ter the meetings are over with they will not 
have so much of a chance to ramble around. 

I would insist strongly upon a rule that 
a player must retire at a reasonable time 
every night so as he can give his best ef- 
forts in the game the next day. A great 
many young players have many foolish habits 
and want to do as they like and they also 
think they are awfully abused if you lay 
down a few rules that are for their own good. 
Some players form the habit of drink, some 
the habit of card playing that keeps them up 
over half the night, some the habit of danc- 
ing that keeps them out, some have the wom- 
en on their brains, etc., and you must guard 
against all of these. I do not wish to state 

132 



that you must have all Sunday school boys 
on the club. It's all right to allow a man to 
have a good time, but it must not be to ex- 
cess and he must not abuse the privilege you 
grant him. You must use discretion in your 
rules and methods of handling the players, 
and the rules you lay down let the player un- 
derstand that he must live up to them. Never 
allow the players to run things as they choose 
for if you do you will find that you will have 
a mighty hard time producing a winning com- 
bination and )M3u will be at lager heads with 
your players all the time and they will put 
you on the "Bingo" if they can and will also 
call you an easy mark. I would hold these 
meetings every night, especially well into the 
season, until the club gets a going well. This 
keeps the players together and I notice that 
when this is done they usually hold together 
better after the meeting and usually go home 
and direct to bed. You can cut the number 
of meetings down to a couple a week after 
the season is well along, providing every- 
thing is working well, but at the start and 
also during the exhibition season be sure 
and hold the meetings every night and work 
with your playing manager on this plan until 
you have drilled the team work and harmony 
into the club so that every man understands 
who is who, and what is what. 



133 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



THE KIND OF A LETTER A BASE- 
BALL PLAYER SHOULD WRITE 
TO A CLUB OWNER OR MANAG- 
ER THAT WILL ATTRACT AT- 
TENTION. 



A FEW POINTERS FOR YOUNG 
PLAYERS. 

Many a young ball player with the determin- 
ation and ambition to start out to join the 
professional ranks falls flat when he attempts 
to write the different club owners or man- 
agers for trial, not knowing just how to 
word his letter to the best advantage and in- 
variably his letter is treated as a joke and 
thrown in the waste basket without being 
given the least consideration, no matter how 
good the writer may prove to be as a player. 
In this chapter and also the following one I 
will endeavor to point out to the average 
player where he is lame in writing a club 
owner or manager for a trial or a position 
on the club. Trusting that the player may 
be benefitted by my method of correspondence 
to club owners and managers, and I also sin- 
cerely trust that it will be an aid to young 
players in paving the way to correct cor- 
respondence with club ' officials. In the first 
place through polite correspondence, when 
you write a club official asking for a position 
on the club that requires a reply, I must state 
most emphatically, be sure and enclose a 
stamp. By so doing any intelligent club 
owner or manager should extend courtesy 
enough to at least notify you as to whether 
he can give you a trial or not, and he cer- 
tainly should have the courtesy to answer 
your letter. You must take into considera- 
tion of course that club owners and man- 
agers receive hundreds of letters every sea- 
son from aspiring ball players desiring trials, 
134 



and especially so in the early part of the sea- 
son. These club owners and managers when 
they sign a player for trial by correspondence 
not known to them, are usually guided by the 
letters they receive in order to select their 
players, providing they are signing a player 
of unknown quality. Therefore I must say 
that the letter you write will cut a lot of 
ice as to whether you are selected or not, 
and a properly written letter will land you 
the job about eight times out of ten if the 
club owner is really anxious to sign a man. 
When you are signed by correspondence you 
must be sure and tell the truth and do not 
write a long, tiresome letter concerning your- 
self that no one cares to read. If your batting 
average the previous season was 250 do not 
write it was 666, and if your fielding average 
w r as 700 do not make it 999. Always tell 
exactly just what it was. Some players will 
write that their batting average was in the 
vicinity of 666 and their fielding average was 
in the vicinity of 999, etc. This would never 
get you a job. Any intelligent manager would 
sign a player ten times quicker if he wrote that 
his batting average was 240 and his fielding 
average, was, 760. But if you are fortunate 
enough to have a better average, so much the 
better for you. I would always make it a 
point to save a few clippings of the work you 
accomplished the previous season, so as you 
can furnish credentials if you are called upon 
to do so. A great many young ball players 
never get a good start or go into fast company 
as it is called in basebal circles, and they 
often wonder why. 

They also often see their friends go to the 
front in fast company. They have played 
with them on the same amateur teams and 
did equally as good work, and they also con- 
sidered themselves just as good players as 
their friends, but they wondered why they 
didn't get there. I will tell you just why a 
good many of them do not. In the first 
place these players are of unknown quality, 
135 



and when they receive a letter, that is pro- 
viding they do receive one from a club owner 
or manager asking them their lowest terms 
for a trial, ofttimes they place the terms so 
high at the start that no club owner or man- 
ager will even consider them, consequently 
they are dropped like a hot potato from further 
correspondence by the club owner or man- 
ager and perhaps they may never get another 
opportunity to sign with a good club. Now 
don't vou think it advisable to make the 
terms low at first, and I would suggest ex- 
ceedingly low for the first year in order to 
get a start? If you play the first season in 
good form and deliver the goods any fair- 
minded club owner will treat you right in re- 
gard to salary the second year and you will 
soon find yourself at the head, providing you 
deliver the goods. If you wish to come to 
the front wouldn't this method be far better 
than holding out for a bier salary at the start 
and have no club owner pay any attention 
to you ? Another bad feature the young ball 
player of today has. If a club owner writes 
him asking his lowest terms he will most 
always reply giving his terms as so much and 
transportation. Or if the club should sign 
a voting player they usually wire to the club, 
"Please send transportation." The word 
transportation is growing to be a big word 
with the young ball player of today, and a 
good many managers become disgusted with 
this. If I was a young player desiring to 
get a start in baseball I would cut out the 
transportation business and when I had an 
opportunity to sign with a p-ood club I would 
sign and also notify the club officials that 
I would be on deck the time they wanted me 
to report and not think of transportation, al- 
though I would not travel any great distance, 
for if you cannot make good in a leaerue 
near home you cannot make ^ood any where. 
If I was compelled to work all winter in 
order to earn enough money to get there I 
would do it. This word transportation is a 

136 



detriment to baseball, both to the club owner 
and to the player. Why should a club be 
compelled to pay transportation to a player 
to where he was going to work? It's merely 
and simply a custom, that's all, that the base- 
ball player has taken advantage of, and the 
club owners are foolish enough to stand for 
it. Now suppose, for instance, that you were 
a clerk in a bank livine in New York and had 
an opportunity to go to work for another bank 
in Chicago, would you ask that Chicago bank 
to wire you transportation? Or suppose, for 
instance, that you were a mechanic working 
in one city and secured a job in another city, 
would you ask for your transportation? Why 
if you did the party that hired you would 
think you were crazy, therefore I cannot see 
why a club should be compelled to give trans- 
portation. I think it would be alright for 
the club to advance transportation to the play- 
er but the amount advanced should come out 
of the player's salary. I merely wish to call 
the attention of the young player about this 
habit of transportation, and I sincerely think 
if he would cut this word out, and make it 
a point to be on deck at the time the club 
requires his services the chances are it would 
aid him considerably in getting a start, and 
I also wish to call the attention of the club 
owner and ask if he does not think it's a 
case of work in the baseball business. 

In the following chapter I will endeavor to 
give a few model letters that I would advise 
the young player to follow. These letters 
will cover all that is necessary to say and will 
be to the point and with a stamp enclosed 
they will attract the attention of most any 
intelligent club owner or manager. 



137 



CHA PTER XXV. 

MODEL LETTERS. 
"SEVEN FORMS" FOR AMATEUR 
LEAGUE AND COLLEGE PLAY- 
ERS TO FOLLOW. 

In this chapter I will draw up a few good 
forms of model letters thus giving you my 
opinion of the way I would communicate 
with a club owner or manager providing 
I was looking for a position on a club as 
a player. This, however, will give you the 
opportunity to choose for yourself in re- 
gard to the form of letter you desire to write 
to a club owner or manager. Of course 
vou may have to verify your letter some 
according to your own situation, as to the 
position you play, your own age, height, 
weight, and vour record as a player, etc.. 
He sure and always represent things just 
as they are. These forms of letters are 
merely to give you the correct idea of 
how to write. In these model letters I 
will leave the name and address of the 
club owner or manager in blank, and you 
may fill in the blank space to correspond 
with the club to which you are writing 
your letter. I will also leave at the close 
of the letter blank where your signature 
and also your address should go. This 
you sign the same as you would sign in 
any ordinary letter. You will also note 
that I date all letters from New York 
City. You of course must date your letters 
from the city where you are writing. 

FORM I. 
A GOOD FORM FOR AN AMATEUR 
INFIELDER TO USE. 

New York City, March 20, 1910. 

Mr 

( name of president here) 

President Baseball 

(Name of club here) 

Club. 

(name of city and state here) 

138 



Dear Sir: I understand that you require 
the services of a good infielder on your 
club. I wish to say that I have played 
for the past two seasons on one of the 
fastest amateur teams in the vicinity of 
New York City, always batting above the 
300 mark, and fielding equally as well. If you 
will kindly give me an opportunity to show 
my worth I will be only too glad to pay my 
transportation to your city at any time you 
request. The writer is a young man 22 
years of age, 5 feet 9 inches in height, weigh- 
ing 170 pounds, and a left handed batter. 
Am considered very fast on my feet. I 
am enclosing a stamp trusting to have an 
early and favorable reply. 
Yours very truly, 

(your name here) 

(your address here) 
FORM II. 
FOR AN AMATEUR OUTFIELDER TO 
USE 
New York City, Feb. 4, 1910. 

Mr 

(name of manager here) 

Mgr Baseball 

(name of club here) 

Club. 

(name of city and state here) 
Dear Sir: I would like to ask if you could 
give a fast hard hitting outfielder a trial 
on your club. For the past three seasons 
I have played with very fast amateur clubs, 
these clubs defeating several of the best 
traveling teams on the road today, and 
my batting and base running were 
the features of the games. I am confident 
that I can make good with your club if 
given an opportunity. I am a young man 
of good habits, 21 years of age, 5 feet 11 
inches in height, and weigh 180 pounds. 
Am a right handed batter, fast on the 
139 



bases and can cover a lot of ground. En- 
closed you will please find a few clippings 
of my work against good teams, also a 
stamp. Trusting to have an immediate re- 
ply 1 am 

Yours respectfully, 



(your name here) 
(your address here) 



FORM III. 
FOR AN AMATEUR PITCHER TO USE. 

New York City, May 6, 1910. 

Mr 

(name of manager here) 

Mgr Baseball 

(name of club here) 

Club. 

(name of city here) 
Dear Sir: I read your advertisement in 

of 

(name of paper here) 

yesterday's issue in regard to your club de- 
siring the services of a first-class pitcher, 
therefore I would like to make application 
for the position. I am a young man 20 
years of age, 6 feet in height, and weigh 
190 pounds. Am a right handed pitcher 
with great speed, excellent control, and 
also have a good spit ball. I will not go 
into details of what I can do, however, if 
you will give me a trial I am confident 
that I can deliver the goods. Awaiting 
your early reply, I am 
Yours truly, 



(your name here) 



(your address here) 
140 



FORM IV. 

FOR AN AMATEUR CATCHER TO 

USE 

New York City, Feb. 2, 1910. 
Mr 

(name of manager here) 

Mgr Baseball 

(name of club here) 

Club. 

(name of city here) 

Dear Sir: Could you use a good hitting, 
change catcher on your club this spring? 
I have played the past few seasons on very 
fast amateur clubs, also strong independent 
clubs playing summer ball. My batting 
average was in the neighborhood of 275. 

I am a strong accurate thrower. I can also 
alternate at first base, and play the outfield 
in good shape. Am 22 years of age, 5 feet 

II inches in height and weigh 175 pounds. 
In regard to my ability I can refer you to 
I 

(name your references here) 

will enclose a stamp trusting to hear from 
you at your earliest convenience. 
Yours very truly, 

(your name here) 

(your address here) 
FORM V. 

This is a form for an experienced league 
player to use who is looking for a job. 1 
will word the letter to read as if you were 
an inlielder. If you play some other po- 
sition you must change the wording in your 
letter to read correspondingly with the po- 
sition you play. 

New York City, March 20, 1910. 

Mr 

(name of manager here) 

Mgr Baseball 

(name of club here) 

Club. 

(name of city here) 

Dear Sir: I notice that you are now sign- 
141 



ing your club for the coming season. As 
yet I have not signed with any club. Last 
season I was with 

(name of club here) 

and was given my release at the close of 
the season upon my own request, therefore 
I am free to sign with any club desiring 
my services. During my career I have 

played with the following clubs 

(name 

the clubs that you have played with here) 

and can refer you to the president or man- 
ager of any of the above clubs as to my 
ability. Am strictly temperate, and al- 
ways batted around the 300 mark. Have 
a good arm and fast on the bases. Am 
29 years of age, 5 feet 8 inches high, and 
a left handed hitter. I would be pleased to 
have you state your best terms for the 
season. Trusting to hear from you at 
once. 

Yours very truly, 

(your name here) 

(your address here) 

FORM VI. 

A form suitable for a college pitcher to 
use. If you are a college player playing 
some other position word your letter to 
read according to the position you play. 
New York City, July 1, 1910. 

Mr 

(name of president here) 

President Baseball 

(name of club here) 

Club. 

(name of city here) 

Dear Sir: I understand that you would 
like to secure another first-class pitcher for 
-our club. I have just finished my college 

142 



year and would like to join some good club 
immediately. For the past three years ] 
have pitched on the college versity team 
winning the majority of my games, and I 
am confident that I can make good on 
your club. If you are interested in college 
ball you no doubt have read an account 
of my work, and it is on account of my good 
work at college that I would like to join 
the professional ranks. The writer is 23 
years of age, 6 feet high, a left handed 
pitcher with terrific speed, excellent control, 
and a good change of pace, also considered 
a good batter. I will enclose a stamp, trust- 
ing that you will favor me with an im- 
mediate reply I am 

Yours very truly, 



(your name here) 



(your address here) 

FORM VII. 

A LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE. 

New York City, May 8, 1910. 
Mr 

(name of president here) 

President Baseball 

(name of club here) 

(name of city here) 
Dear Sir: I am in receipt of your es- 
teemed favor of the 7th inst. The terms 
mentioned in your letter are entirely satis- 
factory to me, and I will sign a contract at 
any time you request. When you notify 
me to report I will be on hand promptly 
and will also be in good condition so as to 
Rive you my best services. Thanking you 
for your kindness extended to me I am 
Yours very truly, 



(your name here) 
143 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 
LEAGUE AND INDEPENDENT 
BASEBALL. 

The difference between league and in- 
dependent ball is merely this: At the 
present time there are in the neighborhood 
of thirty odd leagues under the jurisdiction 
of the National Association of Professional 
Baseball Clubs. These leagues are govern- 
ed by what is known as organized ball. 
If you are organizing a league in a new 
territory consisting of good towns, that is 
towns anywhere from 2(J,000 to 75,000 in 
population I would advise making applica- 
tion to the National Association and become 
a member of that organization, but on the 
other hand if you are organizing a league 
and cater practically to college players it 
is not necessary to belong to the National 
Association or organized ball. Your league 
then would be known as an independent or- 
ganization and you would make fully as 
much money if not more with a league con- 
sisting of fast college players playing in- 
dependently as you would by being a mem- 
ber of the National Association. This ap- 
plies to such leagues as the Maine State 
league organized in 1907, an independent 
organization. In this league there were 
in the neighborhood of fifty college men 
playing ball during the summer. 

At the present writing there are 
several good colleges when after the col- 
lege season closes, the students play sum- 
mer ball. Of course the colleges known as 
the "Big Six," namely Yale, Harvard, 
Princeton, Dartmouth, Cornell and Penn- 
sylvania, do not permit their players to 
play summer ball for a salary under any 
circumstances owing to professionalism. Al- 
though outside of the "Big Six" players can 
be secured for summer ball from most any 
144 



tollege in the easf. If you are under the 
jurisdiction of the National Association you 
cannot get these college players for sum- 
mer ball during their college course, but 
you can get them to play where you have 
an independent league or an independent 
club, therefore I wish to state to you that 
you must use your own discretion as to 
whether you prefer an independent league 
or a league under the jurisdiction of the 
National Association. You could start with 
an independent league if you choose and you 
can make application to the National As- 
sociation at any time you prefer for pro- 
tection. 

I have organized leagues of both kinds, 
and have found that the small independent 
league consisting of college players was 
the most profitable for me. If you are 
connected with an independent league you 
must not harbor any players who are with 
clubs under the National Association. If 
you do you will be termed an "outlaw" by 
the members of organized ball. Of course 
this is no disgrace, but I would not advise 
interferring with such players for it's not 
necessary, but it will be "dollars to dough- 
nuts" that the clubs under organized ball in 
nearby territory will try and steal your 
good players. Good college players can 
be secured reasonable and a good fast 
team of college players will put up just 
as good an article of ball at the present 
time as most any minor league team in the 
country, and if you have this kind of a 
team you can always interest the best class 
of people in the city to assist you financially 
and you will also get the crowds. With 
such a league you would not be compelled 
to start the season until about the middle 
of June and you could close on Labor Day, 
thus giving a sufficiently long enough sea- 
son to please every one. You would also 
avoid the cold bad weather in the early 
spring. A few exhibition games could be 

145 



arranged prior to the league opening, and 
1 would advise having the first exhibition 
game on Decoration Day. You could, no 
doubt, arrange to have a few of the college 
men play on that date, and fill in the bal- 
ance of the club with local men. By so 
doing you could take advantage of the 
big holiday and get the benefit of the day's 
receipts. You can also carry one or more 
good local players through the summer sea- 
son if you wish. If you are organizing an 
independent club in a small town, I mean 
a club not associated with league ball, I 
would also advise having a few good col- 
lege players on the club. You could also 
use one or more good local men. Inde- 
pendent clubs can be made to pay a good 
profit if they are managed properly. In 
the first place you must secure good at- 
tractions for the holidays and also your best 
week day games. Always give as small a 
guarantee to the visiting club as possible, 
thus keeping the bulk of the heavy receipts 
for yourself. I have known clubs to go to 
the wall by this poor feature. The visiting 
club would work the manager for a big 
guarantee with the privilege of fifty per 
cent, of the receipts. This will kill any 
club unless they are drawing extraordinary 
crowds. The more you give away out of 
your receipts the less you have for your- 
self. The one bad feature with independent 
ball is the cancellation of games. For in- 
stance you might have a good attraction 
booked for one of your big days and at the 
last moment you might receive word from 
the manager of the club that the game is 
cancelled. I have known this to happen 
many times, especially so with these travel- 
ing teams going about the country. I have 
known them to book games in good faith 
and then they would look around for some- 
thing better and if they secured it they 
would cancel your game in a jiffy, no matter 
how much it inconvenienced you and no 

146 



matter how much your loss might be. 
Keep your eye on these fellows. This 
is the one bad feature of independent ball 
and it has a tendency to keep a manager 
worried a great deal, as to whether the visit- 
ing club will show up or not. 

Another bad feature with an independent 
club is to control the ball players, especially 
the amateurs and young college players. 
College players especially like to run things 
to suit themselves, but they will work hard 
on the held and give their best efforts. They 
may be inclined to dictate the financial end 
to you. Here is where you must put your 
foot down. Always sign a ball player on 
trial and if he makes good offer him a con- 
tract. Never have a ball player work for 
you unless he is on trial and when his salary 
starts have him under contract at once. 
When the contract is signed everything is 
in your favor and if a player gets fresh 
you can tell him where to get off at. These 
contracts are written especially for the club 
owner, and you can procure a sample con- 
tract from most any manager under or- 
ganized ball, ana have your contracts to read 
practically the same, changing to the name 
of your league or club as the case may be. 
Many players are always looking for more 
money and will have letters and telegrams 
from other clubs to show you where they 
have been offered more money, etc., than 
you are paying them. This may have an 
attendency to annoy you, and the best 
way to protect yourself against this annoy- 
ance for fear they may jump you at any 
time is to always hold back about two 
weeks' salary on them in any independent 
club or independent league. This protects 
you some, and if they do jump you will 
simply have to secure a man In their place. 
Make your contracts payable the first and 
fifteenth of each month and never allow 
a player to dictate to you as to what you 
must do. Have them sign a contract and 

147 



live up to it, and you fun the club to suit 
yourself. 

If it were not for these two bad features 
I personally had just as soon have a good 
independent club playing independent ball 
in a small town or large city as to have a 
league club. The good feature about a 
league club under organized ball you have 
no worry as to whether the club will show 
up or not. You can always depend upon 
the club being on hand the day the game is 
scheduled unless the club is compelled to 
disband, and this does not happen very 
often in league ball, and there is not much 
danger of a player jumping you. So these 
are the redeeming features of league ball. 

If you have never had any actual ex- 
perience in baseball I would advise for you 
to study this book carefully and I would 
advise starting an independent club in a 
small town or city first so as you may 
grow accustomed to the ins and outs of 
the game, and by so doing it would qualify 
you for future work. One year or more 
experience with a good independent club 
would get you started right, and you could 
then branch out higher and by careful 
study, no doubt, make a grand success of 
the business. Many of our most prominent 
baseball men of today started in just this 
very same way. 



148 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



HOW TO ORGANIZE A STOCK-CO. 
THE ADVANTAGE YOU MIGHT 
GAIN BY SO DOING. 

If you are located in a town any where 
from 5,000 to 100,000 in population I would 
not advise organizing a stock company at 
the start of the season. I would advise 
following the instructions in the early chap- 
ters of this book for at least one month 
after the regular season had started. You 
could, no doubt, tell by that time how 
things were going, and after that time if 
you thought the chances were slim for you 
in making money from the gate it might be 
to your advantage to form a stock com- 
pany then, and work the remainder of the 
season on a salary basis, and I would ad- 
vise doing so in this way; you could no 
doubt arrange with a few of the dyed-in- 
the-wool baseball fans among the business 
men of influence in the city to take hold of 
the situation for you. I am sure that you 
would anticipate no difficulty in doing this 
providing that you had conducted matters 
properly during your stay in the city. In 
most any town there is public spirit enough 
to help any enterprise along where it ad- 
vertises the city. These men should get 
out with a stock sheet or subscription list 
and raise sufficient funds to carry things 
along in good shape. In this instance I 
would advise giving them full control of 
the club. I would do so with the thorough 
understanding that they retain you as man- 
ager of the club for the balance of the sea- 
son on a salary. A written contract to 
this effect I advise necessary to protect 
yourself. Your salary as manager for a 
small league should be at least $200.00 a 
month but this you must arrange to suit 
yourself. You, of course would turn over 
to the new company the lease on the ball 
149 



park, uniforms, franchise, and all other 
necessary equipment that goes with the 
franchise that you have on hand necessary 
to run the club, which of course is worth 
considerable. If you have built a new ball 
park I would advise selling this outright 
for what you thought it was worth. This 
method can be used to a good advantage to 
yourself. Sometimes business men are 
crazy to get control of a franchise. On 
the other hand if you found that you had a 
good town and were fortunate enough to 
have a winning club and were making 
money, I would not advise organizing a 
stock company under any consideration. 
If, however, you had a good opportunity 
to sell your franchise outright at a good 
hgure this, of course, would be up to you. 
If you organized a stock company with 
the assistance of the business men as above 
mentioned and was retained as manager at 
a reasonable salary, and in addition to 
what you had alredy made up to the present 
time of selling the club, you should be able 
to realize good returns for your work for 
the season and by so doing it might be to 
your advantage to organize a company in 
some cases. This, of course, you must act 
upon your best judgment as to how things 
are <?oing for you. If, however, you are 
located in a town of 25,000 to 100,000 popu- 
lation and preferred to organize a stock 
company at the start of the season in or- 
der to protect yourself, thinking that you 
could do better, I would advise doing so in 
this way: You, of course, must hold full 
control of the franchise at all times, that 
is, hold the controlling interest of the shares 
of stock issued together with the lease on 
the park so as to avoid a freeze out. I 
would get out a stock sheet or a stock sub- 
scription blank which could be made on 
any typewritten paper, drawn up in good 
form and should be worded and headed as 
follows: 

150 



STOCK SUBSCRIPTION. 

We, the undersigned, do hereby sub- 
scribe for the number of shares of stock 
set opposite our respective names in a com- 
pany to be incorporated with a capital stock 

of $ for the purpose of 

organizing and establishing a baseball club 

to represent the city of 

and we agree to pay for said shares at the 
rate of $1.00 per share when called upon 
to do so. 



Name of subscribers 

i 1 


No. of shares 
subscribed for 


Amount | 

i 
i 


| 




i 
| 


1 




| 


| 




i 


1 J 


| 


i I 


| 


1 1 ■• 


1 



The above is a good form to use to solicit 
subscriptions for stock. I would advise sell- 
ing shares at one dollar a share in small 
towns. You could get a good many to go 
in at these figures where if the shares were 
ten, twenty-five or one hundred dollars you 
could not interest the "small fry." A good 
many young men, clerks, etc., who would 
assist in helping you would subscribe for 
stock if the shares were one dollar, where 
you probably could not get them if you 
asked a higher price, but you should sell 
many a share by asking the small price. 
Many would subscribe any where from 1 to 
5 shares where if you were asking more 
you would not touch this class. Go after 
the big people first, such as big manufac- 
turers, hotels where you have your club 
stop and also hotels that get the visiting 
clubs. These should subscribe liberally and 
they should take at least 50 shares. Some 
business men would take 25, some 10 and so 
on. You could incorporate for $2,500.00 or 
151 



$5,000.00 just as you choose but in a smaU 
town $2,500.00 or $5,000.0 would be suf- 
ficient. It would be necessary for you Xo 
go to some attorney, one who can be de* 
pended upon, and have him make out the 
necessary papers for you and advise you as 
to incorporation fees and full details per- 
taining to the matter. I understand tiie 
incorporation laws differ in many of the 
states, therefore I am not able to go into 
details in regard to them. Your attorney 
can explain all this to you in regard to fees 
and also his charges in making out the 
necessary papers. The attorney's fees should 
not be very much for his personal work, 
and he will advise you the method to pursue 
no matter where you are located. Try and 
secure the services of a lawyer that is a 
baseball fan, if possible. The chances are 
he will let you off light. 

Your salary as manager would have to be 
agreed upon for your work, and you would 
also have to be organized properly, with a 
President, Secretary, Treasurer and a board 
of directors elected. If the company found 
they were not satisfied with your adminis- 
tration, which they might if you were un- 
fortunate in producing a losing club, they 
would, no doubt, as is often the case, try 
and make things miserable for you, and 
they might try and freeze you out too. 
This is often the case in baseball. Where 
if you have control of the stock and the 
lease on the ball park and the franchise in 
your name, you can make them come to 
your figures, providing they are not too 
steep, and you can sell out your interests 
to them to a good advantage. If you are 
located in a city of one hundred thousand 
or more in population and secured a fran- 
chise and had a lease on the baseball park 
you would, no doubt, make good money 
by organizing a stock company and holding 
control of the stock and franchise. In this 
case I would advise securing the services 
152 



of a good stock promoter to sell the stock 
and ask a good price for it, say, $100.00 a 
share. I would also secure the services of 
a reliable lawyer to advise me in regard 
to incorporating, the amount, etc., and also 
the full particulars pertaining to same. 
Have him work with you for your interests 
and you can appoint him your attorne}' «f 
the club to look after your interests. If 
you have control of such a franchise you, no 
doubt, would act as the President of the 
club, and secure the services of a good 
playing manager to handle the players on 
the field. 



153 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



WHEN TO SELL A FRANCHISE AND 
WHEN NOT TO SELL. 

By giving a conservative estimate in this 
chapter I will figure that we are located in 
a town of twenty or thirty thousand 
inhabitants and that the town is con- 
sidered a good ball town and I will 
figure that we raised $1,000.00 from the 
sale of tickets and $1,000.00 on ad- 
vertising; from your entertainments, prize 
contests, etc., that we realized $500.00 
more; this would give us a total of 
$2,500.00 money raised. Suppose that we 
had no ball park to build we merely leased 
the park already built in good condition, our 
new uniforms, equipment of club, balls, 
bases, bats, etc., and providing we advanced 
some money to players for transportation 
also including our first payment on the 
lease of park, should not exceed $300.00. 
This deducted from amount raised would 
leave a balance of $2,200.00 in the bank. 

Xow I will figure that we are favored with 
good weather and that our exhibition 
games for two weeks netted us from $500.00 
to $1,000.00 above all expenses. This would 
increase our bank account any where from 
$2700.00 to $3,200.00. Now I will figure 
that we had bad weather set in for a month 
or so and the best we could do was to 
break even with the running expenses of 
the club from the gate receipts all this 
while. We being fortunate in having a 
good club that was standing one, rwo or 
three in the race, some one came along and 
made us a good offer for the club, offer- 
ing us anywhere from $1,000.00 to $2,500.00 
for our franchise. The question is: Would 
we accept it? If we did accept the offer it 
would give us an opportunity to make any 
where from $4,000.00 to $5,500.00 for our 
work thus far in the season. This was 
154 



a question sometimes hard for me to de- 
cide in the past just what to do. Some- 
times I would accept and sometimes 1 
would not. Most always there is some one 
anxious to buy the club, especially if you 
have a winner and especially if they think 
you are making money, and I am going to 
tell you frankly just what I would do if 
I was placed in such a position at the 
present time, and this is based upon my 
past experience. I would advise selling by 
all means. I remember one season [ was 
located in a small city and raised consider- 
able money. I did not work very hard, 
either, and could have raised much more 
than I did for the town at that time was 
very enthusiastic over ball. My exhibition 
games netted me something like $1,100.00 
in about two and a half weeks, including 
three good Sunday games. One of the 
Sunday games I gave a guarantee of $50.00 
to the visiting club and took in something 
over $500.00 at the gate and grand stand, 
thus leaving me over $450.00 clear money 
for the one game alone. When the league 
season started I was fortunate in having 
good weather and made good money up to, 
and including Decoration Day. Every one 
interested in ball in the city knew that [ 
had a good thing, so a certain party wanted 
to buy the club and franchise and made me 
an offer of $800.00 cash for it. I figured 
that I had made good money and figuring 
accordingly the way that the money was 
coming in at the gate, I could clear at 
least $5,000.00 from the gate alone on the 
season, and still have my franchise left, so 
I did not accept the proposition thinking 
it was too small a consideration. As things 
turned out later for me I made a great 
mistake in not accepting the $800.00 cash, 
for at the time I had a nice bunch of money 
to the good. My club struck a losing- 
streak immediately after the offer was 
made me and everything seemed to go 

155 



wrong, no matter how hard I would try 
to secure players. I could not seem to win 
games and the club went down the to- 
bogan slide mighty fast and the public be- 
gan to knock, as such is the case in base- 
ball when you have a loser, and I was mighty 
fortunate later on in disposing of the club 
and making what I did. As long as the 
club continues to win you are all right to 
hold it in a small town, but one never can 
tell when the club may strike a losing 
streak and the other managers may 
strengthen, causing you to strengthen 
and lay out more money for players 
to keep up the pace. So on this ac- 
count and everything considered and 
especially if you are money ahead at any 
time in a small town and have a good op- 
portunity to sell your club and make good 
money I would advise doing so, and this 
advise is based upon my past experience, 
for you never can tell what may happen. 
This, of course, applies to towns any where 
from ten to fifty thousand population. The 
larger the city the more money you should 
receive for your franchise. If you were 
located in a city of forty or fifty thousand 
population and could plainly see that you 
had a good money maker I would not ad- 
vise selling in the middle of the season un- 
less you were offered a good figure for your 
franchise. You might sell at the close of 
the season to a good advantage. In the 
smaller towns the baseball craze does not 
last only from one to three years as a rule. 
The public will demand faster ball each 
succeeding year and after the first or second 
year the cost of the players* salary to 
supply the brand of ball demanded by the 
fans will lessen your chances to make big 
money. Therefore I must express em- 
phatically, if you have a good opportunity 
to sell any time during the first season or 
at the close of the season at a good figure 
in towns of fifty thousand or less I 

156 



Would do so. If you are located in 
a town of more than fifty thousand it might 
be to your advantage to hold the club for 
one, two or three years, oerhaps longer. 
However, in this case you must use your 
own best business judgment as to the kind 
of a club you have and especially as to the 
drawing capacity of the town. If you are 
drawing good crowds with a club that is 
one, two, three in the race, as above men- 
tioned, I would advise holding as long as 
it proves to be a money maker. This, of 
course, is up to you for consideration. 



157 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



A GREAT FOURTH OF JULY PROPO- 
SITION. 



THIS IS A GOOD MONEY MAKING 
PROPOSITION, AND FROM $500.00 
TO $2,500.00 SHOULD BE MADE 
WITH THIS PROPOSITION. 

In this chapter I will endeavor to give 
you the full details, and the correct method 
to pursue in order to put on a good 4th of 
July celebration, one that will prove to be 
a money maker, providing you follow these 
instructions correctly for I consider this 
proposition one of the best one-day money 
making propositions of its kind that I 
know of in the line of field sports to run 
in connection with baseball in small towns, 
and there is no question in my mind that 
if you follow these instructions it will 
prove to be a grand success. This, of 
course, applies to weather permitting. You 
can put on a celebration of this kind for the 
4th, even if you are not running a baseball 
club. I would advise simply engaging two 
clubs to play on that day, providing there 
is no club in the town that you are putting 
the celebration on. You can engage a few 
of the local players to represent the local 
club, for it's a poor ball town these days 
that cannot scare up a dozen fairly good 
players. You might have to engage an out- 
side battery to help out. Then you can en- 
gage some nearby club to play against your 
local club. Try and secure a club that 
has some rivalry to the town that you 
will represent so as to bring a crowd 
along with it. If there is an estab- 
lished club in the town that you are 
putting the celebration on, simply engage 
the local club to play. If you can locate 
in a town where there is an enclosed race 

158 



track so much the better for you, but if 
you are in a town where there is no race 
track you must make the best of the baU 
park. Of course it will be necessary to 
have quite a good sized park, and you can 
grade a temporary track around the inside 
near the fences and stands making it as 
large as possible and I would advise simply 
having the motor cycle races on this track. 
If you are fortunate enough to secure a 
town where there is a race track you would 
not have to go to the expense of building a 
track and you could have auto races in con- 
nection with the motor cycle races. I would 
not advise horse races on account of hav- 
ing to pay so much money in order to get 
good races, as they would eat up a large 
portion of the profits. I would advise mak- 
ing a specialty of motor cycle races, and 
try and engage some of the good motor 
cyclists to enter. The public would take 
just as much interest in them as they would 
with any kind of races at the present time 
and your expenses should not be very much 
in order to put on such races. In addition 
to the motor cycle races you could have 
such races as the wheelbarrow race, climb- 
ing the greasy pole, fat man's race, potato 
race, three leg race, and jumping of all 
kinds to take place in front of the grand 
stand. Now that the flying machine is all 
the rage I would advise to engage some ore 
as reasonable as possible to give an ex- 
hibition with his machine. If you are lo- 
cated in a town where there is a race track 
I would advise having an auto race in ad- 
dition to the motor cycle races. You can 
arrange with some of the young fellows of 
the town who own autos to help out by 
giving an auto race to help the celebration 
along. The motor cycle races should be 
arranged as follows: Half mile race, one 
mile race, two mile race, five mile race, 
free for all race, track record race. These 
races with the auto race should afford a 

159 



fine afternoon's entertainment in the race 
line. You should give suitable prizes for 
the winners of each race 

I would advise having some prominent 
local man make a brief speech pertaining 
to the occasion. You could also have a 
shooting contest, and, no doubt, you could 
arrange with some valdeville company to 
put on a tent show during the afternoon 
and evening, giving you a certain per- 
centage for the privilege of doing so. Also 
engage a few side attractions, such as a 
trick bicyclist, or a tight wire performer, or 
the trick dogs. I would not advise having 
the customary balloon ascension. Now that 
the flying machines are all the rage have 
the flying machine to take the place of the 
balloon ascension. Engage the local band 
for the day and also some good fife and 
drum corps if same can be had. Have the 
band meet all incoming trains. At 1:30 P. 
M. I would start the programme at the 
grounds. Engage a good capable man and 
make him master of ceremonies and take 
charge of the entertainments at the 
grounds, and run off the attractions in or- 
der. Arrange all races to take place first 
and the ball game should start not later 
than 4 o'clock. The flying machine exhibi- 
tion should take place sometime during the 
ball game. Have a parade of automobiles, 
band and drum corps, motor cyclists, and 
ball clubs start at some prominent place 
in the business section of the town and be 
sure and have this parade start sharp at 
one o'clock P. M., and march through the 
business section direct to the grounds and 
be at the grounds prompt at 1:30, the time 
scheduled for the opening of the pro- 
gramme. I will draw up an ideal form of 
bill to have printed for such an occasion 
at the close of this chapter. This bill 
should be printed on large paper, what is 
known as 5-sheet size to the printer. It 
should be printed in two colors, red and 

160 



blue to suit the occasion with a picture of 
an eagle in the center between the dates 
at the top. These 3-sheet bills should be 
put up in good shape on all bill boards 
where ever you can get them up about the 
town, also send out to surrounding towns 
for a radius of 50 miles. You should also 
have a sufficient quantity of one-sheet and 
half-sheet bills printed and properly dis- 
tributed in your town, also surrounding 
towns. You must also co-operate with the 
railroad companies and arrange with them 
to give you excursion rates to your town on 
all lines running into your town. You must 
also send advertising matter to all rail- 
road station agents. Have them put up the 
advertising matter in the railroad stations. 
Your printing matter will cost you in the 
neighborhood of $50.00 and it will pay you 
to put this amount into printing matter. 
All advertising matter should be put out 
about three weeks before the 4th. I would 
also advise advertising in all local papers 
ten days prior to the 4th, also advertise 
some in other nearby town papers. Make 
these papers give you good reading notices 
of your celebration, and especially the local 
papers should boost your celebration in 
good shape for at least two weeks prior 
to the date. Give the newspapers all your 
job printing. You, no doubt, will think 
that all this will cost considerable money 
to put on such a celebration. I will now 
go into details of the cost and endeavor to 
explain where it's not absolutely neces- 
sary for you to spend any of your own 
money in putting on a celebration of this 
kind. The business men put up the money 
for the celebration and the best way to do 
is to simply notify the public through the 
local papers that you are going to put on 
a big 4th of July celebration for the benefit 
of the baseball club, and that you will 
solicit funds from the business men as a 
donation to pay the expenses of the celebra- 

161 



tion. Figure out what your attractions will 
cost you, also your music and advertising. 
By giving a conservative estimate I would 
figure that a celebration of this kind would 
cost any where from $500.00 to $1,000.0 : 
and this would be according to the amount 
of attractions that you put on, of course. 
This amount you should raise on subscrip- 
tion of donations from the business men 
alone. Most any liberal business man would 
give any where from five dollars to twenty- 
five dollars to have such a celebration in 
his town, and hotels, saloons, restaurants,' 
etc., should contribute liberally for such an 
occasion for it would be a big day for 
them. If such a celebration is well adver- 
tised and you are favored with good weath- 
er there should be a terrible crowd in town. 

You can also get out a nice programme of 
the attractions at the grounds, including 
the score card for the ball game, and on 
this programme you should raise good 
money from the sale of advertisements, not 
saying anything about the sale of the pro- 
gramme at the grounds. You should have 
this programme printed in red and blue on 
white paper to suit the occasion and making 
it an attractive souvenir. 

You would also have the sale of your con- 
cessions for the day, such as the sale of 
pop corn, peanuts, refreshments, tent shows, 
throwing at the babies, rings, canes, and all 
such concessions of this kind would want to 
come on to the grounds, and you should 
receive good money for the privileges. You 
should raise enough money on subscrip- 
tion, advertising and rent of concessions to 
pay for all costs of attractions, and all the 
necessary expenses attached to the cele- 
bration. At nine o'clock at night I would 
give as good a display of fire works as 
I could afford. This would add tone to 
the celebration and hold a great many 
people in town at night, and all would go 
away pleased. Where you make your 

162 



money would be from the gate receipts, and 
you would have left for your earnings all 
money that was taken in at the gate at 
the grounds. This, of course, would be for 
your work. Now let us figure what you 
should make. For an illustration I posi- 
tively know of a celebration of this kind 
that was put on in a town of forty-five hun- 
dred population, and advertised as men- 
tioned above, and there were over four 
thousand people paid admission at the 
gates at twenty-five cents a head. It was 
well advertised for a radius of 50 miles, 
and the trains brought in big crowds. 
Figuring on four thousand people at twenty- 
five cents each would be exactly one thou- 
sand dollars. Now figure that just one-half 
of them went into the grand stand or two 
thousand at twenty-five cents a head would 
be five hundred dollars more. This would 
give a total amount of fifteen hundred dol- 
lars you would receive for your work pro- 
viding such a crowd passed your gates. In 
a city of ten to thirt}' thousand population 
you should exceed these figures on a good 
day. 

I will now give the form of the Fourth 
of July bill. You can use what you wish on 
this form, and cut out what you don't want. 
Simply hand the form to your printer, and 
he should be able to get it up in an attrac- 
tive manner for you in two colors, red and 
blue, with the eagle in the center of the 
two dates, namely, 1776 and year of your 
celebration. 

FORM FOR POSTERS. 
Grand 4th July 

1776 Eagle 1910 

Celebration 
Carnival and Field Day 

On the Fair Grounds 

(name of city) 
Monday, Juiy 4th, 1910, 

163 



For the Benefit of the Baseball Club, 
Athletic Sports of all Kinds. 
Cash prizes will be given. 
Monster Bill of Attractions costing 
$1,000.00. 

The programme will be opened on the 
Fair Grounds at 1:30 p. m. by the most 
elaborate and costly spectacle ever pre- 
sented by a 4th of July committee anywhere, 
and following it will be act after act of 
sensational character, of beauty and daring, 
of great artistic merit, such as young and 
old of this vicinitv never before feasted 
their eyes upon. It is no wonder that more 
than usual interest has been aroused as the 
great day approaches. Thousands are ex- 
pected from surrounding towns and farm- 
sides, and accommodations have been made 
on an elaborate scale to take care of all who 
come. 

Eloquent address by 

(name of party here) 

A Shooting Contest 

Between Riflfle Clubs of nearby towns. 

High Tight-wire Walking 

By Prof 

(name of town) 

The peerless king of his profession, for- 
merly with 

(name) 

will give three daring acts in front of the 
grand stand. 

A Big Vaudeville Show Free. 

An unprecedented show in which every 
act sparkles with individuality and merit. A 
first-quality vaudeville will be given on a 
large raised platform in front of the grand 
stand on the grounds. Charming novelty, 
164 



ripping fun, original comicalities, spectacu- 
lar dancing, marvelous strength, not a dull 
moment. 

Wheelbarrow Race, 

Climbing Greasy Pole, Fat Man's Race, 
Catching the Greasy Pig, Obstacle Race, 
3 Leg Race, Potato Race, Running Races, 
Jumping, etc. 

Automobile Races 

Don't miss seeing Prof. So and So, Trick 
Bicyclist, the wonderful Gymnasts and 
many other special features. 



Motor Cycle Races. 

Half Mile 
One Mile 
Five Miles 
Two Miles 
Free For All 
Track Record 



It is with pleasure that the committee an- 
nounces the engagement of Prof 

(name here) 

and his flying machine called 

(name) 

will make an ascension and give an exhi- 
bition on the Fair Grounds. 



Music 
By the Famous 



(name of band) 
will be in attendance on the grounds. 



Baseball. 



(name of club) 
vs. 



(name of club) 

165 



on the Fair Grounds at 4 p. m. The visit- 
ing club is one of the strongest clubs in this 
section of the State. 

Excursion Rates. 

From Place to Place 

(Name rates) 

Fire Works. 

The largest and grandest display of Fire 
Works ever shown in this section will take 
place at 9 p. m. on Main Street. 

The committee is sparing neither pains 
nor expense to make this celebration the 
greatest ever witnessed in this vicinity, and 
cordially invite everybody to come and 

celebrate with 

(name of town) 

on the Nation's holiday. 

Admission to grounds 25 cents. Grand 
stand seats 25 cents. Programme opens at 
1.30 p. m. sharp. 

The above form makes an attractive and 
elaborate bill when printed in two colors as 
above mentioned. You will observe that I 
use the word committee on the bill form. 
By so doing will give the affair more tone, 
and you will no doubt have to engage at 
least two ticket sellers, a collector to help 
you make the collections and other work, 
also a man for master of ceremonies at the 
grounds. All these you can have on the 
committee to assist you. You, no doubt, 
have heard of Mr. Fred Thompson, the 
great amusement man, who with the late 
Mr. Dundy, built the great Luna Park, at 
Coney Island, also the Hippodrome, New 
York City. I understand that about the 
first of August the Pan-American Exposi- 
tion found itself in some financial straits, 
and it was through Mr. Thompson's ability 
to see things in the line of sports or amuse- 
ments that helped things along. Mr. 
Thompson was at the Pan-American at the 
time, and I will use a little scrib that ap- 
166 



peared later in print of what Air. Thomp- 
son did for the Pan-American, and you 
can see for yourself how the American peo- 
ple take to sports and amusements, espe- 
cially when they are put on property and 
advertised well, so don't be afraid to ad- 
vertise. For good advertising and plenty 
of it properly distributed and nicely printed 
offering good attractions will bring the 
crowds every time and especially on July 
4th, the big holiday. Here is a short no- 
tice that was published concerning what 
Mr. Thompson accomplished for the Pan- 
American, so you can readily see what 
advertising will do. 

NOTICE. 

On the first of August the Pan-American 
Exposition found itself in some financial 
straits; the daily attendance was only be- 
tween twenty and thirty thousand, and ev- 
eryone saw bankruptcy ahead of the en- 
terprise. I pointed out to the Exposition 
officials that the fact that they did not have 
a larger attendance was absolutely their 
own fault — that they were in the show busi- 
ness and had to adopt showmen's methods. 
I promised them that if they would set aside 
a day called "Midway Day" I would get all 
the showmen together and we would at 
least give another pull to the Exposition. 
It was only through the intervention of Mr. 
John G. Milburn that they finally consented 
to give me my way. 

I had nine days in which to work, but I 
immediately started advertising our features 
far and wide — water sports, handicap races 
between an elephant, a camel, a giraffe, a 
bicyclist, a man on a horse, and a man on 
foot, and day fireworks, etc — in fact, there 
wasn't anything that I did not drag in to 
make a carnival that would last continu- 
ously for sixteen hours. Then I went 
ahead and had the day declared a munici- 
pal holiday, in the interest of adding life 
167 



to the Exposition. We advertised in every 
town within a radius of two hundred miles, 
and the consequence was the biggest day of 
the Exposition, the attendance being over 
one hundred and sixty-four thousand, while 
thousands were left at the railroad stations 
because of the overcrowded condition of all 
the trains; and after that day the attend- 
ance never fell below sixty thousand. 



168 



CHAPTER XXX. 



TWO OTHER GOOD MONEY-MAKING 
PROPOSITIONS. 
ARTICLE I. 
TWO GOOD TRAVELING PROPOSI- 
TIONS. 
ARTICLE II. 

A GOOD SUNDAY PROPOSITION. 

At the present time a man can take a 
good traveling club on the road, but if you 
do so you must have a first-class attrac- 
tion, and if you wish to organize a good 
traveling club I would advise doing so in 
this way. A good team of Indian ball play- 
ers are usually considered a good attrac- 
tion and another good attraction would 
be a good team of genuine Cuban ball play- 
ers. I mean genuine Cubans, not colored 
players, although there are at the present 
time at least half a dozen good colored 
teams on the road and I understand all are 
making money, but at the present writing 
there is only one if any cracker-jack team 
on the road composed entirely of genuine 
full-blooded Cubans. The Cubans are plav- 
ing a grand article of ball in Cuba at the 
present time, and if you are familiar with 
the game you are, no doubt, fully aware of 
the fact that these Cubans have been win- 
ning the majority of the games from the 
American Clubs who go from here to Cuba 
in the fall, and the players who represent 
the American teams are usually composed 
of players from the National and American 
Leagues, also minor leaguers, so this will 
ffive you an idea of the class of ball the 
Cubans are putting up at the present time. 
If a man could secure the star players of 
Cuba and book games with minor league 
clubs during the early part of the spring 
season, and also play independent clubs and 
independent league clubs during the sum- 
169 



nicr season there is no question but that 
a team of this kind would prove to be a 
good attraction and also a good money- 
maker. Now first I wish to say whether 
you organize a team of Indians or a team 
of Cubans I wish to state most emphati- 
cally, be sure and secure the genuine players 
who can put up a fast article of ball. Do 
not try to fake the public with a bunch of 
dubs that call themselves ballplayers, for 
when they strike town the chances are that 
the high school team would knock the fog 
out of them. If you start this kind of a 
team on the road I will candidly tell you 
you wont last long. 

I have known these kind of Indian teams 
that have gone the rounds, and they left 
a poor impression behind them. The fa- 
mous Nebraska Indians under the manage- 
ment of Guy Green a few years ago was 
considered a fast aggregation, and they 
always played a good, clean article of ball, 
winning the majority of their games with 
Independent clubs. They were a first-class 
attraction and I understand a good money- 
maker for their owner. They traveled 
principally through the West. I have not 
heard of them of late and I am under the 
impression that they are not on the road 
at the present time. I am confident that 
good money could be made with a first- 
class attraction consisting either of full- 
blooded Indians or Cubans properly man- 
aged. I would advise securing a first-class 
man as partner, one who is capable of go- 
ing ahead of the show and acting as advance 
agent, in booking the games for a proposi- 
tion of this kind, instead of trying to book 
the games from an office by correspond- 
ence, which I consider a poor way to do 
on account of it not being a reliable way. 
The best way to do is for one to go out on 
the road, act as advance agent, select a 
route which is the most reliable, and book 
the games by contract. In this way one 
170 



can size up the whole situation fully in re- 
gard to a town, concerning its drawing ca- 
pacity, kind of ball park it has, the re- 
liability of the management, etc., where by 
booking by correspondence you cannot size 
up the situation correctly, therefore by the 
advance agent method you would come in 
contact with towns that you would not 
touch after seeing how things were. You 
could also book games to save mileage by 
this method. A good advance man can 
easily book a good route for the entire 
season, save mileage and secure good guar- 
antees with the privilege of fifty per cent, of 
the gate receipts with attractions of the 
kind mentioned above, and I claim this in 
the only correct method to book a travel 
ing organization, for five minutes' talk is 
worth more to you than a ton of corre- 
spondence. In booking the games I would 
advise asking a guarantee of fifty dollars 
each game with the privilege of fifty per 
cent, of the gross gate receipts. Twenty- 
five dollars in case of rain should be had, 
and for Sunday games a guarantee of one 
hundred dollars with a privilege of fifty 
per cent, of gross receipts and twenty-five 
dollars in case of rain. Always make it 
an appoint to play in a good town on Sun- 
days, if possible, where your share of the 
gate receipts will be large, even if you 
have to travel a little out of the way to 
get there. It would be advisable to have 
a good display of printing matter in 
lithograph form attractively arranged in 
three sheets, one sheet and half sheet 
sizes, simply giving the picture and 
the name of the team, and a short descrip- 
tion of its good features, etc. These litho- 
graphs could be carried by the advance 
agent who should keep ahead of the team 
about two or three weeks, and these litho- 
graphs should be distributed to local man- 
agers in sufficient number to bill the town 
properly. The local manager at his own ex- 

171 



pense should have printed in attractive form 
on separate paper, the date of games, price 
of admission, where played, umpire, etc., 
and this should be attached to the bottom 
of the lithographs. The lithographs should 
be properly distributed and put up in the 
store windows about the town in all con- 
spicuous places. The three sheets should 
be put up on the bill boards in good shape. 
Contracts should be carried by the Ad- 
vance Agent, made simple and agreeable to 
both parties giving the date, terms, print- 
ing matter distributed, etc. This is to pro- 
tect yourself, and local manager must sign 
same when terms and conditions are 
agreed upon and this contract should be 
sent to you, so when you come along with 
the club to play on date given, you will 
have the contract in case a dispute should 
arise over receipts. Whether you organ- 
ize an Indian team or a Cuban team you 
want to choose some good and appropriate 
name for them. There are plenty of good 
Indian players in the country that can be 
secured reasonable for such a team, but if 
you preferred to organize a team of Cuban 
players, I would advise getting in communi- 
cation with some of the managers of the Cu- 
ban teams around Havana, Cuba, and you, 
no doubt, could secure the Cuban players 
through them. In addition to the afternoon 
game you could put on a night game as an 
attraction. By so doing it would be neces- 
sary for you to carry a lighting outfit which 
would consist of, say, fifty large gasoline 
lamps, and each lamp should give a bril- 
liant strong light. The lights should be 
supported on about four or five strong 
poles, set just outside the diamond in 
circular form and hung on ropes about 
twenty feet high from the ground. It 
would be necessary to hire an extra man 
especially to take charge of the lights and 
do nothing else. He would see to the put- 
ting them up and all work attached to 

172 



them. These lights could be put Up any 
time after six o'clock at night and be ready 
for the game at 8:00 or 8:30, whichever 
time you decide to call it. Some of the sub- 
stitute players could take turn in helping 
out if necessary. These substitutes could 
also take tickets at the gate when required. 
You could play these night games whether 
you have an Indian team or a Cuban team. 
By giving the public a good article of ball 
in the afternoon the chances are you would 
draw well at the night game. This night 
game is more of a novelty than anything 
else. It is not played like the regular out- 
door game, it is simply played with an in- 
door baseball and the bases moved up about 
thirty feet, making the distance between 
bases sixty feet instead of ninety feet, and 
played under the lights, or in other words 
you might say it is indoor ball played out- 
side, but it proves to be a good money- 
maker properly advertised and handled. 
The pitcher throws the ball from the regu- 
lar outdoor distance instead of pitching it 
underhand the same as indoor ball, and the 
bases being nearer are the only change in 
the rules from the outdoor game, aside from 
these the game is played according to the 
outdoor rules. If you advertise this well 
by lithographs and newspapers, you will 
find that the crowds will turn out to see the 
novelty. I would advise having special 
lithographs for this. 

There is usually a lot of fun attached to 
this kind of a game and the crowd goes 
away pleased. The admission fee should 
be the same as the afternoon game both at 
gate and grand stand. The local club must 
furnish police protection and you should 
have a simple contract drawn up the same 
as you would have for the afternoon game, 
thus giving you fifty per cent, of the gross 
receipts. 

I do not think it advisable to ask for a 
guarantee for the night game. Simply take 

173 



half that comes in at the gate and grand- 
stand. I have booked one of these night 
games for a city of twelve thousand popu- 
lation and my share for one-half of the 
gross gate receipts was a little over $200.00. 
This will give you an idea of what has 
been done, and I have been told that large 
crowds have turned out to witness this 
kind of ball. The players enjoy the fun be- 
cause there is not much hard work at- 
tached to it, and what you make at this 
night game is clear velvet for yourself, 
otherwise the club would be sitting around 
with nothing to do. Therefore I say keep 
them working and get every cent you can, 
and I advise most strongly to carry a night 
outfit with a traveling organization. The 
various local club managers are always 
anxious to book a game of this kind. Now 
that the cost of living is much higher, and 
that the hotel rates have gone up, I would 
advise and think it good policy to rent 
or lease a car and engage a chef. 

Players and all hands could sleep and eat 
in the car. You could contract with the 
players by the month, giving them a stated 
amount and their board, and save big hotel 
bills in a month's time. Good cars can be 
secured fitted up for such a purpose; just 
pick up most any bill-board magazine and 
you will see them advertised, either for sale 
or rent. You can arrange with the rail- 
road companies to haul the car from place 
to place at a reasonable rate, and your 
cost of living would not be anywhere near 
as high as if you were stopping at hotels. 
You would have no excess baggage to pay 
on the lights. You could carry your night 
outfit, sleep, eat and have your office and 
make your home in the car, and by having 
the car attractively painted to suit the oc- 
casion, this would make a fine advertise- 
ment for you as well. This proposition, 
properly handled, should prove to be a 
grand money maker, and you could also 

174 



pass a very pleasant summer touring the 
country in your private car. 

ARTICLE ii. 



A Good Sunday Proposition. 

If a man will figure carefully, have a good 
club and book good attractions, I am con- 
fident that he can make good money by 
running a Sunday and holiday amateur 
club. Of course some cities will draw bet- 
ter crowds than others, but this can be 
worked to good advantage both in large 
rities and small ones as well, where amateur 
Sunday ball is permitted. If you were lo- 
cated in a city of ten to twenty-five thou- 
sand population and had a good fair Sun- 
day town, where the game was permitted, 
I would advise playing only Sunday and 
holiday games, and the best way to do in 
this case is to hire the players by the game. 
In case it rains and no game is played you 
have no salaries to pay. If I were a young 
man interested in baseball and wanted to 
break into the game for a financial bene- 
fit I would advise starting in this way 
first, and by so doing it would give you an 
idea of the ins and outs of the game and 
qualifv you to take larger chances later 
on. Working with an amateur team would 
be a good schooling for a year or so for 
you. Many of our best known baseball 
men have started in this way. This kind 
of baseball should not interfere with your 
regular work during the week, and you 
should make handsome profits on the Sun- 
day games for yourself. I would prefer 
having an amateur club in a large city 
where I would be permitted to play the 
games on Sunday if I could arrange it so, 
and to give you an idea I will endeavor 
to give you a brief description of what I 
accomplished one season by running a Sun- 
day amateur club in a small city of four- 
teen thousand population at the time. 
175 



There was no enclosed baseball park in this 
city at the time. There were a few fairly 
good amateur players about town who 
wanted a manager to get them started and 
organize a team so as they could play the 
pame, giving them a little something for 
their work. A few miles out of town the 
Street Railway Company controlled a small 
amusement park where they made a feeble 
attempt to interest the public to go and 
spend the day, especially Sundays, by giving 
a few cheap amusements that amounted to 
nothing, consequently they did no busi- 
ness, for when the people, saw that it 
amounted to nothing they did not go again. 
One day I went into the general manager's 
office and asked him how the crowds were 
at the park on Sundays. He told me that 
they were very poor indeed. Well, I said, 
I have a proposition that I would like to 
submit to you, and if your company will 
co-operate with me I can get the crowds 
out there every Sunday. The general man- 
ager said that he would have to see the 
president of the company first, so I ar- 
ranged to meet the president and general 
manager the next morning for an interview. 
They had about six acres of nice level land 
on their property suitable for a ball park, 
and I suggested to them that they build 
a grand stand on this tract of land to seat 
live hundred, and grade the grounds suit- 
able for playing, and donate me the park 
free. I would enclose the grounds and go 
ahead and organize a club and pay all sal- 
aries and take all responsibility myself, and 
all they would have to do would be to haul 
the crowds to and from the park, and I 
would secure good attractions and play 
ball there every Sunday for the balance of 
the season, weather permitting. After a 
brief talk and some figuring they decided 
to accept my proposition. This, I think 
as near as I can remember, was on Mon- 
day, and we went direct to a contractor, 

176 



gave him our figures and he agreed to have 
the grand stand completed by Saturday- 
night, and the Street Railway Company 
had their teams do the grading and had it 
completed by Saturday. I gave out to the 
press that I would build a new park and 
organize a strong independent club and 
that the first game, or the opening game, 
would be next Sunday, giving the date. 
I immediately engaged a good club to play 
my club that Sunday and advertised the 
game big. I bought posts and had them 
set twelve feet apart. I also bought new 
canvas. Had the canvas fence around the 
park eight feet high, and the canvas was 
tacked to narrow strips and these strips 
tacked to the posts so as I could take it 
down immediately after each game, and 
when I opened that Sunday I had as pretty 
a little ball park as you ever saw with the 
new grand stand and the new white can- 
vas fence. I also had five hundred chairs 
to take the place of bleechers. These I 
gave out free. I advertised the game in 
great shape and it was a beautiful day, and 
to tell the truth I had a few over sixteen 
hundred paid admissions at the gate at 
twenty-five cents a head. I charged fif- 
teen cents to the grandstand, but the grand- 
stand was not large enough to accommo- 
date the crowd. The Street Railway Com- 
pany had to get out all their extra cars, old 
and new, that they could scare up to handle 
the crowd, and it was the largest crowd 
they ever hauled to the park with the ex- 
ception of July 4th, the day they opened 
the park. The general manager told me 
that the company was well pleased with 
results. I hired the amateur players by 
the game paying seven local boys three 
dollars each for every Sunday game played. 
In case of rain and there was no game, 
they were not to receive anything. I also 
hired a pretty good battery, college play- 
ers, a pitcher and catcher and paid them 

177 



five dollars each and their expenses, and 
my total expense for players, also adver- 
tising, was in the neighborhood of thirty- 
eight or forty dollars. 

I would secure good amateur clubs as an 
attraction from nearby large cities, and 
also other amateur clubs from nearby rival 
towns to play for a guarantee anywhere 
from thirty-five to fifty dollars a game, 
according to the attractions, and my 
total expenses, including advertising, play- 
ers' salary and guarantees to visiting 
clubs would always fall less than one 
hundred dollars, sometimes about eighty 
dollars. At my opening game, as stated 
above, I had a little over sixteen hun- 
dred paid admissions, and my crowds would 
run anywhere from five hundred to twelve 
hundred paid every Sunday. This would 
be according to weather and attraction; us- 
ually averaging from seven to nine hun- 
dred. So you can easily figure what my 
profits were from the above figures, adding 
the grandstand receipts to these figures. 
Of course, I played as late in the season as 
I could, cold weather compelling me to 
stop. I also won practically all of my 
games played. I had no ground rent or po- 
lice to pay. The Street Railway Com- 
pany furnished police protection and 
grounds free, and the Street Railway Com- 
pany received good returns by hauling the 
people to and from the park, and it was a 
go^d proposition for me, and I candidly 
believe that any one can do well in any 
small town by following the same policy 
as I did. The main thing is to keep the 
expenses down. Do not pay too much to 
the amateur players, and do not give too 
large guarantees and I am also confident 
that good money can be made in large 
cities by running an amateur club and play- 
ing Sunday and holiday games. Now for 
an illustration: Just take the city of Buf- 
falo for instance, or the city of Chicago. 

178 



There are many local amateur clubs in both 
cities playing Sunday and holiday games. 
In the city of Buffalo the papers give out 
the attendance for the past two seasons for 
some of these games anywhere from five to 
ten thousand people paid admissions, and I 
understand there are a couple of clubs that 
draw enormous crowds every Sunday, and 
it's not an uncommon thing to see eight 
thousand people in attendance at some of 
the games in that city. I understand there 
are about six good amateur clubs in Buf- 
falo drawing good Sunday crowds. I re- 
member I witnessed an amateur Sunday 
game in that city a couole of years ago. 
The Cuban Giants were trie attraction. I 
went out to the grounds to see what kind 
of a crowd they drew. I was rather late 
and the game was well along, and when I 
passed the gate I asked the Cuban Giants' 
manager who was on the gate at the time, 
"How's the crowd?" He showed me that 
something over sixty-six hundred had pass- 
ed the gate up to that time. They used 
the "Reel Ticket" system, these tickets be- 
ing numbered and easy to tell just how 
many pass the gate at any time. If a 
man would organize a good amateur club 
and play Sunday and holiday games in the 
large cities where the games are permitted, 
I know good money could be made by 
proper management. If you have to build 
a new ball park I would advise doing so. 
You can follow the instruction in the early 
chapters of this book in regard to build- 
ing parks and raising funds on advertising. 
You should be able to secure enough adver- 
tisements on the fence to pay for the cost 
of the fence easily, and you could start in 
a small way by building a long, low stand 
and bleechers to accommodate about one 
thousand people. Keep adding on to this 
from the profits that come in from the 
games, and by working in this way at the 
end of the first season you should have 

179 



quite a valuable baseball plant. After you 
once have this plant you could lease it to 
other amateur clubs of good standing if 
you preferred to do so instead of running a 
club yourself. I would advise leasing in 
this way. You take thirty-three and a third 
per cent, of what comes in at the gate for 
rent" This would give you a fine income 
for a season providing the teams drew any 
crowds at all. The two clubs could each 
take thirty-three and a third per cent, of 
the receipts for their share also. I would 
advise building a new park if you are quali- 
fied to do so. Perhaps you might be able to 
lease a park already built. This, of course, 
you must use your own discretion accord- 
ing to the situation. I would pay the play- 
ers by the game and try and secure the 
best college players in the city that could 
be engaged, and all money that came in at 
the gate after paying players I would lay 
out on the new park until I had it com- 
pleted, and owned a valuable baseball plant 
free and clear, and one that would bring me 
in a good revenue in case I decided to lease 
it. 

Sunday amateur games are being played 
in many of our large cities at the present 
time, and I am confident that a man can 
go in most any one where the games are 
permitted and by using judgment can make 
good. All that is required is a little nerve, 
good business judgment and perseverance 
in order to succeed. 



180 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



HOW I MADE EIGHTEEN HUN- 
DRED DOLLARS ONE SEASON 
ON A CAPITAL OF PRACTICALLY 
NOTHING, AND WHY IT RE- 
QUIRES PRACTICALLY NO CAP- 
ITAL TO START IN THE BASE- 
BALL BUSINESS IN A SMALL 
WAY. 
In this chapter I want to tell you a true 
story of how I made eighteen hundred 
dollars one season on a capital of practically 
no investment at all, and this was done in 
a town of about eighteen thousand popula- 
tion, and I could easily do the same thing 
again and even better- in any town the same 
size at the present time, everything being 
equal, of course. Then you can readily see 
why it will require practically no capital to 
start in the baseball business in a small 
way, such as starting an independent club 
or even organizing a small league club. I 
first studied the territory that I had in 
view for the approaching season, and I 
found that the season previous there were 
three towns in that territory playing a 
fairly good article of independent ball, and 
that there were also three other towns in 
the same territory laying idle without ball, 
that should support clubs, and the pros- 
pects looked good to me for a league in 
this territory, so I decided to take my 
chances and try and organize a league. I 
selected the town that looked good to me 
first, and also the one that had an enclosed 
ball park. When I arrived in the town at 
night and after paying my carfare I had less 
than five dollars in my clothes to work on. 
I went to one of the hotels and asked the 
proprietor what rate he could give me by 
the month, telling him that I was going to 
organize a league in that section to include 
181 



such and such towns, and that I would be 
located in town permanently during the 
baseball season, providing I was success- 
ful, and that I would make my headquart- 
ers at his hotel, and that there would be 
no question in my mind but what I could 
throw him considerable business during the 
summer from a baseball standpoint. After 
a short talk he was well satisfied with what 
I had to say, and made me a monthly rate, 
so I registered and was assigned to a room 
and the proprietor selected a good room 
for my convenience and comfort. Being 
tired from my journey I went to my room 
early, to retire for the night. I thought of 
the small capital that I had to work on 
and knowing that my board would not be 
due until the month was up, I felt quite 
contented, and the next morning started 
to work in good spirits. What little money 
I had I figured that I must invest the most 
of it in postage stamps and post cards for 
my correspondence. 

It would be absolutely necessary that I 
must shave myself, cut out smoking, and 
even do part of my own washing in my 
room in order to curtail expenses until I 
had something coming in. The first thing 
for me to do the following morning would 
be to see the parties who owned the base- 
ball park. I went and interviewed them 
first, and after a short discussion, I was 
promised that I could have the use of the 
ball park for the season at the rate of five 
dollars per game, which terms I made, 
and were agreed upon, and these terms were 
satisfactory to me under the circumstances, 
for I preferred to rent by the game, and the 
lease was made out later. When I found 
out that I could have the park this took 
a great strain off my mind, and I knew 
after that everything would come easy for 
me. 

I then went directly to the newspapers, 
made myself known, told them I had leased 

182 



the park, and that I was going to organize 
a league in this section, to include such and 
such towns, and asked the newspaper men 
if they would boost in good shape. I was 
told that they would, and they did, and 
everythine went well. I then went back to 
the hotel, wrote to the managers of the 
three towns that had independent clubs the 
previous season, telling them my intentions, 
pointing out the good qualities of league 
ball, and asked them if they would go into 
a league, or attend the league meeting that 
I would call within a few days. I re- 
ceived letters from all stating that they 
would attend the meeting. In fact one of 
the managers was so enthusiastic to get into 
the league he came to see me. This, of 
course, was verv encouraging to me. I then' 
had to secure representatives for the other 
two towns I had in view in order to com- 
plete my circuit. I knew of a good base- 
ball manager that I thought might take a 
franchise, so I wrote him asking him if he 
would take a good baseball town and go 
into a league with me. I received a letter 
from him in due time, stating that 
he would, and that he would join me 
within a few days. When he came 
we secured a manager for the other town 
making the last, or the sixth town taken 
to complete the circuit. In the meantime I 
had letters from three other towns making 
application to join the league, but these 
towns I thought were a little too far away 
for our circuit, so I decided it was not ad- 
visable to admit them to the league, but 
with the other six towns in line I knew 
there would be no question in my mind 
but what we would have a league. I de- 
cided to call the preliminary meeting in one 
of the nearby towns convenient to all. By 
this time my funds were practically ex- 
hausted. Every cent that I had used went 
for postage and some laundry. 

The proprietor of the hotel and myself 

183 



by this time were quite friendly, and the 
day before I was to attend the league meet- 
ing, I asked him if he would kindly loan 
me five dollars. This he did willingly, and 
those five dollars looked larger to me then 
than one hundred did after my receipts be- 
gan to come in. I went to the meeting al- 
right and found that all clubs were repre- 
sented, and we had a very successful pre- 
liminary meeting. After a short discussion 
it was decided that all represented were in 
tavor of league ball, and we elected officers 
pro-tem., and organized a temporary organ- 
ization. 

The next meeting was to be held subject 
to the call of the President. Then a per- 
manent organization would be protected, 
permanent officers elected and a schedule 
drawn up. Upon my return to town I gave 
this out to the newspapers, and I began to 
sign my players immediately. As fast as I 
signed a player I secured his pedigree and 
gave this to the papers also, along with the 
player's photograph, when I could secure 
one. I had the papers boosting in good 
shape. 'Then I drew up my season ticket 
subscription list, making the tickets pay- 
able April first, and began canvassing the 
business men for the sale of tickets and 
donations for the support of the club. I was 
very successful and sold in the neighbor- 
hood of fifty tickets the first week. My 
month's board by this time was about due 
at the hotel, for I came there the latter part 
of February, so I thought I had better call 
the proprietor aside and give him a con- 
fidential talk, simply telling him that my 
board was about due and that I was short 
of funds, etc., and asked him if I paid him in 
full April first, would it be satisfactory. I 
also snowed him the large list of names I 
ad on my list including the best people 
in town, telling him that I would collect 
April first and make good. The proprietor 
said, "why certainly, it's all right." On 



April first I went out and collected enough 
money to pay the proprietor in full and I 
was on easy street after that. I also so- 
licited advertisements for my score card and 
score board, and did well with both, in- 
cluding the season tickets. The early part 
of May my players began to report, and I 
made arrangements with the hotel pro- 
prietor to have the entire club stop at his 
hotel, and I also arranged to have as many 
of the visiting clubs as I could stop with 
him while in town. This I did for his kind- 
ness that he extended to me, and to tell the 
truth it was a great boost for the hotel. 
The fans would come around nights, and 
crowd the corridor of the hotel and talk 
baseball with the players, and when the 
visiting clubs were in town, there was al- 
ways a jam at the hotel nights, and the 
bar receipts were large. Many a dollar 
was taken in that the proprietor would 
never have seen had it not been for me 
and the baseball club, and he told me so 
many a time and thanked me and appre- 
ciated what I had done for him, too. 

He, of course, was one of my best sup- 
porters and boosters. I would not stand 
for any boozing among my own players, 
but if a man wanted to take a glass of beer 
I did not object, but for down-right booz- 
ing I would not stand for it. My exhibi- 
tion games started and I drew good crowds. 
I cleared over one thousand dollars from 
them. We played Sunday games and I 
drew line on Sundays, and also holidays. 

On July 4th, I played in the morning 
with my rival team at their town, and in 
the afternoon I played at home. The 
weather was bad for us in the afternoon, but 
never-the-less we had for the both games 
nearly twenty-nine hundred paid admis- 
sions, not so bad for a small city. I had 
an ooportunity to sell the club two or three 
different times at a fairly good figure for a 
club of its kind, and when I finally de- 

185 



cided to let the club go I found that I had 
a little oyer eighteen hundred dollars in 
cash for my work, not counting my cost of 
living or the money I had spent otherwise. 
If I had accepted one proposition made me 
early in the season I could have cleared 
in the neighborhood of twenty-live hundred 
dollars. So you can readily see the money 
that sometimes can be made in the baseball 
business with practically no capital to start 
in a small way. If you wanted to organize 
an independent club and start the season 
about Decoration Day it would not be nec- 
essary for you to go to the town until about 
May first. You could lease your park, sign 
vour players, solicit your donations for 
tickets and advertisements and have your 
opening game a couple of days before Dec- 
oration Day. Your only expense would be 
your car fare to the town and board for a 
month at the most. Your tickets should be 
made payable about a week prior to the 
opening game in this case, and many would 
offer to pay for their tickets when you so- 
licited them, so you would have money 
coming in at once. I went to a town May 
first and raised fourteen hundred dollars 
during the month of May, had my opening 
game a couple of days prior to Decoration 
Day and made good money from practical- 
ly no outlay of money at all, and this can 
be accomplished by any intelligent man, 
and I will again state so you can see the 
money that can be made in the baseball 
business, with practically no capital to start 
in a small way. I am not the only one who 
has made money out of baseball with prac- 
tically no investment. Some have made 
many times the amount I have made in a 
season with nothing to start. 

I can name some of the best baseball men 
in the country that went into towns with 
practically no capital, and made good money 
^n just the same principles that I have out- 
lined in this book, and this is just how some 

186 



of them got their start. The secret is just 
this: The business men make the dona- 
tions to get you started as I have outlined. 

I have known many leagues to be organ- 
ized where that the managers didn't have 
hardly anything at the start, some nothing, 
only enough for carfare to get to the town 
that they were to locate in. For an illus- 
tration I will say that when the present 
New England league was organized in 1901, 
a few baseball managers got together, each 
took a town, held meetings, and organized 
the New England league. At that time the 
league took in four cities in the state of 
Maine, and also cities in the state of New 
Hampshire and Massachusetts. This league 
has shifted its territory around since its 
organization, and at the present time in- 
cludes eight cities only in the eastern sec- 
tion of Massachusetts to make up its cir- 
cuit, and it looks to me now that the name 
Massachusetts State League would be a 
more appropriate name for it than the New 
England League, on account of no other 
states being represented in the circuit out- 
side the state. 

The New York State League first started 
with small towns in and around central 
New York, and many other leagues have 
been organized in just the same way. Many 
leagues have been organized by the one 
man owner system, and eventually stock 
companies are formed, and buy out the one 
man owner, or manager's interests and then 
control the franchises themselves. Many a 
club and league have been organized by 
the one-man system, so you can see from 
this chapter that it will give you an idea 
of what I have accomplished on practically 
nothing, and many other men have accom- 
plished the same results on practically no 
investment on just the same plans that I 
have outlined in this book. 



187 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



GENERAL INFORMATION AND A 
FEW GOOD POINTERS. 

Baseball is to-day the greatest sport in 
the world. It is even more than a sport. 
In the United States baseball is a tremen- 
dous business proposition, involving the in- 
vestment of millions of dollars, and the em- 
ployment of thousands of men. From a 
modest start but a comparatively few years 
ago baseball has become an actual factor in 
the business world, and the most important 
element in the every-day life of millions 
of people. Just think of it, thousands and 
thousands of people attend some of our 
largest games, and many thousands have 
been left outside the gates on account of 
the parks not being large enough at the 
present time to accommodate the crowds. 

The big club owners are spending thou- 
sands of dollars and continually planning 
to enlarge their baseball parks so as to ac- 
commodate the ever-increasing crowds. 
The time is not far away when fully one 
hundred thousand people will strive to see 
a single game, and millions of people 
throughout the entire country will await 
with breathless interest the outcome of that 
same game. It is because there is an in- 
definable something in baseball that grips 
the very heart of man. Everyone, be he 
a layman or preacher, in his youth played 
more or less at baseball, and as years stif- 
fened his muscles and hardened his joints 
he played less and less. But did his inter- 
ests cease? Not a bit of it. The sight of a 
clean, close, hard-fought baseball contest 
brings back to-day the youth of the man 
who sits in the grandstand watching with 
intentness every move of the younger men 
who are playing the game for him. In 
mind and spirit he is a boy again. He is 
no older than the young men whom he sees 
188 



rushing back and forth on the diamond in 
front of him. Baseball is clean, it is whole- 
some. It is filled with moments of breath- 
less excitement, and it is that compelling 
intensity that has such a grip on the Amer- 
ican people. Therefore, on account of the 
ever-increasing interest and popularity of 
the greatest game in the world, I cheer- 
fully claim that any city of two hundred 
thousand population or more, at the pres- 
ent time, should support two good clubs, 
and there are many cities of this kind that 
would support two clubs at the present 
time. 

Just stop and think, the. cities of Pitts- 
burg, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Washington, 
Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit and Brooklyn 
with only one major league club located 
in these large cities, while New York, Chi- 
cago, Philadelphia, Boston and St. Louis 
support two clubs, and I understand are 
great money-making propositions for their 
owners. What a great opportunity it 
would be to organize another major league 
including the eight cities above mentioned. 
What a great circuit it would make! What 
a great money-maker it would prove to be 
for the promoters and club owners! In the 
city of Pittsburg it has been stated that 
over thirty thousand people have witnessed 
some of the games, and tremendous crowds 
attend the games there all season, and just 
think of the thousands of people who at- 
tended the games in that city during the 
"World's series" with Detroit. Think of 
the thousands who have attended the games 
in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and 
think of the thousands who have been left 
outside the gates at some of the big games, 
clamoring to get in, but were unable to do 
so on account of the parks not being able 
to seat them. What a vast difference there 
is in baseball at the present day than there 
was some twenty odd years ago when the 
St. Louis Browns won the "World's cham- 

189 



pionship." When the Browns won the 
championship some twenty odd years ago 
J understand the newspapers of that city 
devoted less than half a column space to 
the great victory, and that was on the 
fourth page at that, so I have been told. 
Now just think what a change has taken 
place since that time. When Pittsburg 
won the "World's championship" from De- 
troit, the papers came out with extras 
printed in colored ink, cartoons, etc., and 1 
understand devoted practically the entire 
front page to the great victory. The play- 
ers are given banquets, presents and purses. 
What a difference has taken place in base- 
ball in twenty years! The newspapers of 
the country by their great boosting for the 
National game has made it what it is to-day 
and the newspapers in any town are always 
eager to get the baseball news. Just go into 
a city restaurant any morning and watch a 
man when he picks up a paper and see what 
page he turns to. By careful observation I 
nave found that about eight out of ten turn 
to the sporting page first. 

As 1 have stated above that I sincerely 
believe that if another major league was 
organized to include the eight cities, it 
certainly would prove to be a great in- 
vestment for its owners, and the time is 
not far at hand in my estimation that the 
public will demand two clubs in every large 
city, so as to give continuous baseball for 
six months during the warm weather, 
namely — April 15 to October 15. The 
Pittsburg club is certainly a gold mine for 
its owners, and this city would prove to be 
a great money-maker for another major 
league club. I predict that the time is not 
far distant that some far-seeing men will 
certainly organize another major league. 

11 that is required is to have a capable 
baseball man at the head of such an or- 
ganization for its president, and also finan- 

190 



cial backing in the cities and it's dollars to 
doughnuts the stockholders will reap big 
dividends for their investment. 

In order to get into a proposition of this 
kind it would require some baseball expe- 
rience and money, but if a man was a good 
stock-promoter he could organize a stock 
company, and no doubt interest people to go 
into such an enterprise. For the new be- 
ginner in baseball I would advise to start 
first with an independent club in the small- 
er towns or a Sunday Independent Club in a 
small city, and work in this way for a sea- 
son or two until you acquire the ins and 
outs of the game, or in other words the 
"Baseball Phraseology." By so doing it 
would qualify yourself to work into league 
ball and also into something big in the 
way of handling baseball on a larger scale. 
You could, perhaps, buy a good franchise 
and work up in this way, and you would 
then be familiar enough with the game to 
know where you were at. Stud^ r the chap- 
ters of this book carefully. Remember 
nothing of value can be obtained without 
work. Labor is the measure of value. 

This helper in your work must never 
be looked upon as something that will 
save you from the responsibility of work. 
It only points the way. You must walk, 
and you must do the work. 

Think for yourself and so digest the ele- 
ments that enter into the many chapters 
before you. You will then assimilate and 
make them your own, and rules will not be 
needed. Make this book your companion, 
make it your pocket companion, keep it in 
your pocket, study it carefully. If you can 
work without it, feeling that you have help 
near at hand in time of need. Make this 
your mental gymnasium and grow familiar 
with these chapters as early as you can. 

The best men go to the front. Never be 
content to be a second or third rater. Press 

191 



forward, and stand in first-class in every- 
thing that is essential to make up a first- 
class business man. You have no time to 
lose. Time is valuable and measured lit- 
tle by little so we may use nobly and well. 
Give these suggestions careful considera- 
tion. They will help you. 



192 



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